Compartmentalizing Sentinel Lymph Nodes and Nonsentinel Lymph Nodes in Regional Lymph Nodes Draining the Primary Melanoma

Since the publication of the concept and technique of harvesting melanoma sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) by Morton et al in 1992,¹ the findings that cancer cells from the primary site would spread to their corresponding SLNs in the regional nodal basin have been further validated in other types of solid cancer.² In particular, the melanoma¹ and breast cancer³ models have demonstrated conclusively that, in most cases, cancer cells from primary sites spread to the SLNs and then to distant sites in an orderly fashion.²