The efficacy and predictive value of 99mTc-rituximab for sentinel lymph node biopsy in acral melanoma patients

BACKGROUND: Tc-rituximab as a tracer for sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in acral melanoma (AM) patients. METHODS: Tc-rituximab during the SLNB procedure. The SLNB success rate, SLNB-positivity rate, prognosis and influencing factors were compared between the two groups using SPSS 25.0 software with P < 0.05 considered to be statistically significant. RESULTS: SLNs were successfully imaged using SPECT-CT and harvested from all 374 AM and 128 CM patients. Of these study participants, 19 AM and 9 CM patients were diagnosed as false negative (FN) SLN corresponding to a FN rate of 17.9% and 20.5%, respectively. The rate of positive SLN was 23.3% and 27.3% (P = 0.353) in AM and CM, respectively. No predictive factors were discovered for FN. The T stage was found to be a potential risk factor for SLNB-positive (OR: 1.311; 95% CI: 1.051-1.635; P = 0.016) cases in AM patients, whereas no significant differences were observed in CM patients (P > 0.05). Cox-regression multiple factor analysis revealed that SLNB positivity was an independent risk factor for DFS and OS in AM patients. CONCLUSION: Tc-rituximab is an effective tracer for SLNB of AM and is essential for determining patient prognosis. In addition, we show that T stage may be a risk factor for SLNB-positive cases in AM.