Sentinel Lymph Node (SLN) Biopsy for Conjunctival/Eyelid Melanoma

May 5, 2025 updated by: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Sentinel Lymph Node Localization and Biopsy for Conjunctival and Eyelid Melanoma

The goal of this clinical research study is to find the sentinel lymph node (SLN) (s) and biopsy it (them) to see if the patient has small or low volume metastatic disease that would otherwise have been missed.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

You have had your conjunctival or eyelid tumor surgically removed or it is scheduled to have it removed. You will have lymphatic mapping before the tumor is removed. Lymphatic mapping is when a small volume of Tc99m-Sulfur colloid is injected by an ophthalmologist after which some radiologic images are taken.

If you are able to become pregnant, blood (about 2 teaspoons) will be drawn for a pregnancy test, within 7 days before the biopsy. To take part in this study, you must not be pregnant.

You will then go to the operating room and have intraoperative SLN mapping and biopsy. If the SLN is positive on permanent section, you will go on to have complete lymph node dissection, which involves removal of all the lymph nodes around the positive SLN. Then the disease will be restaged and you may require further treatment after consultation with their oncologist.

Your medical record will be reviewed, and information from your medical record will be recorded and reviewed to help researchers better identify those patients who have microscopic lymph node disease. The information collected from your medical records will include information about your sex, age, what type of cancer that you have, as well as the size of the cancer and its location.

Researchers hope to identify those patients who have microscopic lymph node disease before it becomes clinically obvious. With this technique, researchers could potentially identify occult metastatic disease which would otherwise go unnoticed until it was too advanced. Patients in this study will have to see the ophthalmologist every three months and have the usual metastatic workup, which is routine for conjunctival/eyelid melanoma.

Length of Study:

Your active participation on this study will be over once the biopsy is over. You will continue to be observed on study for 5 years after the biopsy.

Long-Term Follow-Up:

Every 3 months for the first year after the biopsy, and every 6 months after that until 5 years after the biopsy, you will have an eye exam to check the status of the disease.

Every 6 months for the first year after the biopsy, blood (less than 1 teaspoon) will be drawn for liver function tests. You will also have a chest x-ray. You will then have these tests 1 time each year for 5 years after the biopsy.

You will have a head and neck CT or MRI every 6 months for the first year after the biopsy to make sure the disease has not come back. The head and neck CT or MRI will be repeated 1 time each year for 5 years after the biopsy.

This is an investigational study. A total of 38 patients will take part in this study. All will be enrolled at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

38

Phase

  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Texas
      • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
        • University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Participants must be 18 years of age or older.
  2. Histologically documented malignant melanoma of the conjunctiva/eyelid greater than or equal to 1 millimeter in thickness, or those less than 1 mm thick that have evidence of ulceration, mitotic figures or are Clark IV.
  3. A CXR, liver enzymes, and a head and neck computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) negative for evidence of metastasis.
  4. Participant must have a negative ultrasound of regional lymph nodes (i.e., within 6 weeks of study enrollment).
  5. Patient provided written informed consent. In the event that non-English speaking participants are eligible for this study, a short form (if applicable) or an ICD in their language, will be utilized and completed in accordance with the MDACC Policy for Consenting Non-English Speaking Participants.

Exclusion Criteria:

1) Pregnant or nursing females.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Sentinel Lymph Node (SLN) Biopsy
Intraoperative lymphatic mapping, then biopsy/removal of the conjunctiva/eyelid tumor.
Procedure: Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping and Biopsy
Intraoperative lymphatic mapping, then biopsy/removal of the conjunctiva/eyelid tumor.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Patients with Sentinel Lymph Node (SLN) Positivity in Conjunctival/eyelid Melanomas
Time Frame: 3 months
The frequency of lymphatic drainage basins for bulbar versus palpebral conjunctiva and for nasal and the temporal quadrants estimated with 95% confidence intervals. The rate of identification of SLN evaluated with a confidence interval. The probability of positive SLN in primary conjunctival and eyelid melanoma estimated.
3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Bita Esmaeli, MD, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 30, 2000

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 28, 2023

Study Completion (Actual)

September 28, 2023

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 10, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 11, 2006

First Posted (Estimated)

October 12, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 7, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 5, 2025

Last Verified

April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • GSP00-106
  • NCI-2012-01480 (Registry Identifier: NCI CTRP)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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