SynthesisAmerican journal of clinical dermatology2024
Ultrasound Surveillance in Melanoma Management: Bridging Diagnostic Promise with Real-World Adherence: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in American journal of clinical dermatology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metastatic melanoma of the major salivary glands - a systematic review.Medicina oral, patologia oral y cirugia bucal · 2025Pooled it
- Is Ultrasound-Based Imaging Essential for Melanoma Active Surveillance?Annals of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- Application and prospects of ultrasound combined with immunotherapy in cancer treatment of intensive care.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUltrasound surveillance has become the new standard of care in stage III melanoma after the 2017 Multicenter Selective Lymphadenectomy Trial II (MSLT-II) demonstrated non-inferior 3-year survival compared with complete lymph node dissection.
objectiveWe aimed to quantify diagnostic performance and adherence rates of ultrasound surveillance for melanoma locoregional metastasis, offering insights into real-world applicability.
methodsConducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we systematically searched the Medline, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science databases from inception until 11 October 2023. All primary studies that reported data on the diagnostic performance or adherence rates to ultrasound surveillance in melanoma were included. R statistical software was used for data synthesis and analysis. Sensitivity and specificity were aggregated across studies using the meta-analytic method for diagnostic tests outlined by Rutter and Gatsonis. Adherence rates were calculated as the ratio of patients fully compliant to planned follow-up to those who were not.
resultsA total of 36 studies including 18,273 patients were analysed, with a mean age of 56.6 years and a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.11. The median follow-up duration and frequency was 36 and 4 months, respectively. The pooled sensitivity of ultrasound examination was 0.879 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.878-0.879) and specificity was 0.969 (95% CI 0.968-0.970), representing a diagnostic odds ratio of 224.5 (95% CI 223.1-225.9). Ultrasound examination demonstrated a substantial improvement in absolute sensitivity over clinical examination alone, with a number needed to screen (NNS) of 2.95. The overall adherence rate was 77.0% (95% CI 76.0-78.1%), with significantly lower rates in the United States [US] (p < 0.001) and retrospective studies (p < 0.001).
conclusionUltrasound is a powerful diagnostic tool for locoregional melanoma metastasis. However, the real applicability to surveillance programmes is limited by low adherence rates, especially in the US. Further studies should seek to address this adherence gap.
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