Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34485762›Full record

ArticleAdvances in radiation oncology

Should Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Status Guide Adjuvant Radiation Therapy in Patients With Merkel Cell Carcinoma?

Tessnim R Ahmad, Harish N Vasudevan, Ann A Lazar, Jason W Chan, Jonathan R George, Michael D Alvarado, Siegrid S Yu, Adil Daud, Sue S Yom

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Advances in radiation oncology. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 46% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Tessnim R AhmadDepartment of Ophthalmology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Harish N VasudevanDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Ann A LazarDepartment of Preventative and Restorative Dental Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Jason W ChanDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Jonathan R GeorgeDepartment of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Michael D AlvaradoDepartment of Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Siegrid S YuDepartment of Dermatology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Adil DaudDepartment of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
Sue S YomDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California.
University of California, San Francisco · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeRadiation of the draining lymph node basin remains controversial for Merkel cell carcinoma, particularly in the era of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). METHODS AND MATERIALS: Based on a 20-year experience using SLNB-guided adjuvant radiation therapy (RT), we conducted a retrospective review of clinically node-negative patients testing 2 hypotheses: (1) whether nodal RT could be safely omitted in SLNB-negative Merkel cell carcinoma and (2) whether the excised primary site should always be radiated. Clinically node-positive patients were excluded.

resultsAmong 57 clinically node-negative patients who underwent SLNB and wide local excision (WLE), 42 (74%) had a negative SLNB, and 15 (26%) had a positive SLNB. At a median follow-up of 43 months (range, 5-182), SLNB-negative patients irradiated to the primary site had improved 4-year disease-specific survival (100% vs 65%,

conclusionsIn this single-institution retrospective review, after negative SLNB and WLE, RT given only to the primary site provided 100% disease control without a need for nodal RT. Among SLNB-negative patients who had WLE, omission of postoperative primary-site RT was associated with 67% cancer relapse, of which half was local.

Identifiers

PMID34485762
PMCPMC8408430
OpenAlexW3189366352

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.