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EANM practice guidelines for lymphoscintigraphy and sentinel lymph node biopsy in melanoma

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European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Sentinel lymph node biopsy is an essential staging tool in patients with clinically localized melanoma. The harvesting of a sentinel lymph node entails a sequence of procedures with participation of specialists in nuclear medicine, radiology, surgery and pathology. The aim of this document is to provide guidelines for nuclear medicine physicians performing lymphoscintigraphy for sentinel lymph node detection in patients with melanoma.

Methods

These practice guidelines were written and have been approved by the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) to promote high-quality lymphoscintigraphy. The final result has been discussed by distinguished experts from the EANM Oncology Committee, national nuclear medicine societies, the European Society of Surgical Oncology (ESSO) and the European Association for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) melanoma group. The document has been endorsed by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI).

Conclusion

The present practice guidelines will help nuclear medicine practitioners play their essential role in providing high-quality lymphatic mapping for the care of melanoma patients.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the members of the EANM Oncology Committee, the EANM Dosimetry Committee, the EANM Radiopharmacy Committee, the EANM Physics Committee and the EANM Board for their contributions to the preparation of these guidelines and the EORTC Melanoma Group for their constant professional collaboration. The authors also acknowledge the SNMMI Committee on Guidelines for their contributions to this work.

The authors acknowledge Angel Soriano Castrejon representing the Spanish Society of Nuclear Medicine, Otto Lang representing the Czech Society of Nuclear Medicine, and Niels C. Veltman, Otto Hoekstra and Bernies van der Hiel representing the Dutch Society of Nuclear Medicine.

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This article does not describe any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Universitätsklinikum Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

    Christina Bluemel, Ken Herrmann & Michael Lassmann

  2. Médecine Nucléaire, Hospices Civils de Lyon and EA 3738, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France

    Francesco Giammarile & Julien Dubreuil

  3. Melanoma Institute Australia, The Poche Centre, North Sydney, Australia

    Omgo E. Nieweg & Annette H. Chakera

  4. European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy

    Alessandro Testori

  5. St Helens Teaching Hospital, University of Liverpool, St Helens, UK

    Riccardo A. Audisio

  6. Department of Surgical Oncology, University Hospital of Heraklion, Heraklion, Greece

    Odysseas Zoras

  7. Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Roger Uren

  8. Alfred Nuclear Medicine and Ultrasound, RPAH Medical Centre, Newtown, NSW, Australia

    Roger Uren

  9. Department of Nuclear Medicine, PET/CT Centre, Radiology, NeuroRadiology, Medical Physics, ‘Santa Maria della Misericordia’ Hospital, Rovigo, Italy

    Sotirios Chondrogiannis & Domenico Rubello

  10. Department of Radiology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Patrick M. Colletti

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  1. Christina Bluemel
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Correspondence to Domenico Rubello.

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Bluemel, C., Herrmann, K., Giammarile, F. et al. EANM practice guidelines for lymphoscintigraphy and sentinel lymph node biopsy in melanoma. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 42, 1750–1766 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00259-015-3135-1

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