The information on this site is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Content within the patient forum is user-generated and has not been reviewed by medical professionals. Other sections of the Melanoma Research Foundation website include information that has been reviewed by medical professionals as appropriate. All medical decisions should be made in consultation with your doctor or other qualified medical professional.

Did you forego CLND of the groin?

Forums General Melanoma Community Did you forego CLND of the groin?

  • Post
    JustJaren
    Participant

      Hi All;

       

      I am familiar with Jenn Unicorn (thanks for your posts!) 

      Anyone else out there decide to do a 'watch and wait' instead of the groin dissection? 

      If so, how are you? What was your first dignosis (thickness, ulceration, etc.) and have you reoccured? If so, when/where? Age range? 

      I have previously done some crowd sourcing here on this topic without much response. Hoping everyone is out living life!

       

       

    Viewing 2 reply threads
    • Replies
        Jon M
        Participant

          Hi,

          I choose not to do a CLND. I was diagnosied on June 24 2016 with a 3.5mm ulcerated and a micotic rate of 4. i then had my SLNB on aug 4. they took out one lymph node from my groin, and come back positive with microsopic tracies of melanoma. I also had to have a skin graft on my right calf. I went and got several opinions on wheather or not i should do a CLND and i finaly decieded with not doing it. I tried yervoy in the 10mg dose and was only able to do 1 treatmeant. It attacked my lungs and i was in the hospital for a week and on prednozone for over a month. I just had a pet/ct scan on the 17 of last month and still show no signs of progression. I go again for another pet /ct scan on the 19th of april. so i will contiune every 3 months wtih scans and i go every 6 months for skin checks with my derm. 

          brendon
          Participant

            I did not have to face this decision as I recently jumped from stage 1 (negative SLNB) to stage 4. I have been reading and watching everything melanoma related as I can. I recall one seemingly reputable doctor saying he thought CLNDs were crazy as cancerous lymph nodes are doing exactly what they should be doing – filtering bad cells. If you have cancer in your lymph nodes it means they are doing their job – holding on to them and trying to get rid of them. If you take them out, you impare the body's natural ability to heal itself. He prefers systematic treatment and maintaining an intact lymphatic system. I will search for the reference when I have a clear head in the morning. But wanted to put it out there in case others had heard this. I am not surprised if it a controversial point of view as it seems to buck convention but it did appeal to my common sense filter. If nothing else it might tee up a good question for your oncologist.

            BillMFl
            Participant

              There have been studies comparing the two choices and there are those who advocate each way. My mm's did not require a decision but I personally would only allow the sentinal and a couple nearby if it was me. My wife who is an RN insisted no more than three nodes be removed when she had her breast cancer surgery. Cleaning out the basin can result in serious permanent side effects and may have little improvement in survival rates. So not an easy decision. Look up some of the most current literature.

                dmturner
                Participant

                  I opt out of the CLND of right groin.  Diagnosed in June 2016.  Right heel, 4 mm deep, ulcerated, 10 mitosis.  Had the Mohs procedure July 6, then PET & brain MRI negative, then SLNB came back positive.  Started Yervoy 10 mg got thru 3 treatments no side effects.  Went in for follow-up in Oct for heel and noticed a couple spots by primary, biospy them and bingo melanoma.  Had WLE on Nov 1 for that location.  In Dec.  was going to start Keytruda, had CT scan negative, then PET scan lit up in pelvic, abdomen, collar bone, heel and groin.  Decided to do Opdivo/Yervoy combo started on Jan 5th.  Before that I saw my derm and I notice another similar spot close to now the secondary and it came back as positive.  Well no I have a whole cluster of lesions on my foot that we are using as a gadge to see if the combo is working.  Well the positive LN have gotten bigger and causing pain.  Did the 3rd treatment and waiting to next Wednesday to tell the doc if I notice shrinkage, stay the same or progression.

                  It would of not matter about the CLND cause the positive LN are not in the right groin area.

                  I have minor lymphdema from the 3 that was taken out. 

            Viewing 2 reply threads
            • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
            About the MRF Patient Forum

            The MRF Patient Forum is the oldest and largest online community of people affected by melanoma. It is designed to provide peer support and information to caregivers, patients, family and friends. There is no better place to discuss different parts of your journey with this cancer and find the friends and support resources to make that journey more bearable.

            The information on the forum is open and accessible to everyone. To add a new topic or to post a reply, you must be a registered user. Please note that you will be able to post both topics and replies anonymously even though you are logged in. All posts must abide by MRF posting policies.

            Popular Topics