Survival outcomes and interval between lymphoscintigraphy and SLNB in cutaneous melanoma- findings of a large prospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in cutaneous melanoma (CM) is performed to identify patient at risk of regional and distant relapse. We hypothesized that timing of lymphoscintigraphy may influence the accuracy of SLNB and patient outcomes. METHODS: We reviewed prospective data on patients undergoing SLNB for CM at a large university cancer-center between 2008 and 2015, examining patient and tumor demographics and time between lymphoscintigraphy (LS) and SLNB. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis assessed disease-specific (DSS) and overall-survival (OS), stratified by timing of LS. Cox multivariate regression analysis assessed independent risk factors for survival. RESULTS: We identified 1015 patients. Median follow-up was 45 months (IQR 26-68 months). Univariate analysis showed a 6.8% absolute DSS (HR 1.6 [1.03-2.48], p = 0.04) benefit and a 10.7% absolute OS (HR 1.64 [1.13-2.38], p = 0.01) benefit for patients whose SLNB was performed < 12 h of LS (n = 363) compared to those performed >12 h (n = 652). Multivariate analysis identified timing of LS as an independent predictor of OS (p = 0.007) and DSS (p = 0.016) when competing with age, sex, Breslow thickness (BT) and SLN status. No difference in nodal relapse rates (5.2% v 4.6%; p = 0.67) was seen. Both groups were matched for age, sex, BT and SLN status. CONCLUSION: These data have significant implications for SLNB services, suggesting delaying SLNB >12 h after LS using a Tc99-labelled nanocolloid has a significant negative survival impact for patients and should be avoided. We hypothesise that temporal tracer migration is the underlying cause and advocate further trials investigating alternative, 'stable' tracer-agents.

Injury-induced GR-1+ macrophage expansion and activation occurs independently of CD4 T-cell influence.

Burn injury initiates an enhanced inflammatory condition referred to as the systemic inflammatory response syndrome or the two-hit response phenotype. Prior reports indicated that macrophages respond to injury and demonstrate a heightened reactivity to Toll-like receptor stimulation. Since we and others observed a significant increase in splenic GR-1 F4/80 CD11b macrophages in burn-injured mice, we wished to test if these macrophages might be the primary macrophage subset that shows heightened LPS reactivity. We report here that burn injury promoted higher level TNF-α expression in GR-1, but not GR-1 macrophages, after LPS activation both in vivo and ex vivo. We next tested whether CD4 T cells, which are known to suppress injury-induced inflammatory responses, might control the activation and expansion of GR-1 macrophages. Interestingly, we found that GR-1 macrophage expansion and LPS-induced TNF-α expression were not significantly different between wild-type and CD4 T cell-deficient CD4(-/-) mice. However, further investigations showed that LPS-induced TNF-α production was significantly influenced by CD4 T cells. Taken together, these data indicate that GR-1 F4/80 CD11b macrophages represent the primary macrophage subset that expands in response to burn injury and that CD4 T cells do not influence the GR-1 macrophage expansion process, but do suppress LPS-induced TNF-α production. These data suggest that modulating GR-1 macrophage activation as well as CD4 T cell responses after severe injury may help control the development of systemic inflammatory response syndrome and the two-hit response phenotype.

Alcohol hand gel--a potential fire hazard.

Alcohol hand gel and wipes are the common method of disinfecting the hands of healthcare workers and working surfaces in clinical settings. We present a case of a 40-year-old health care support worker who was referred acutely to our burns unit following flame burns in association with alcohol gel use. Fortunately she was able to extinguish the flames without sustaining a significant thermal injury however this case highlights the potential danger associated with alcohol gel use, especially with smokers. With the ever increasing use of alcohol hand gel, not only in healthcare settings but also in the general population there needs to be clearer warnings regarding the potential for ignition after use. Alcohol hand gel and wipes are the common method of disinfecting the hands of healthcare workers and working surfaces in clinical settings. Most trusts have strict policies regarding mandatory sanitisation of hands before and after patient contact. This is most easily achieved by the use of alcohol gel due to its ease of use and quick drying properties. As a result alcohol hand disinfectant is available is a variety of formats including foam, gel and wipes. It is also now widely available for use to the general public.