Could skipping a lymph node test be just as good for older melanoma patients?
NCT ID NCT07068074
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study looks at whether older adults (75+) with early-stage melanoma can safely skip an extra lymph node biopsy after their main surgery. The goal is to see if the simpler surgery alone works just as well and improves overall well-being. About 428 participants will be followed to compare quality of life and health outcomes.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 3
Large-scale testing in a bigger group. Usually the last step before a treatment can be approved.
- Participants
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About 428 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Dec 2025
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Jan 2031
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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A research network
The lead sponsor is a research network or cooperative group.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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75 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Patient must be ≥ 75 years of age. * Patient must have ECOG Performance Status of 0-2. * Patient must have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document. Patients with impaired decision-making capacity (IDMC) who have a legally authorized representative (LAR) or caregiver and/or family member available will also be considered eligible. * Patient must have newly diagnosed primary cutaneous melanoma with wide local excision (WLE) and sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy indicated per the treating physician, pending definitive surgical management. * Patient must be eligible for WLE and SLN biopsy. Patients for whom SLN biopsy would be contraindicated, difficult to perform (i.e., after prior surgery in the draining basin) or impossible (i.e., after prior lymphadenectomy for another cause) are not eligible. * Patient must be eligible for surgery and not have uncontrolled medical condition that in the opinion of the medical or surgical oncologist precludes surgical management. * Patient must be English or Spanish speaking to be eligible for this study in order to complete the patient-reported outcomes (PROs). Patients who speak only French can be enrolled in Canada and appropriate documents will be made available by the study team. Exclusion Criteria: * Patient must not have an active infection that precludes enrollment to this study in opinion of treating investigator. * Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients on effective anti-retroviral therapy with undetectable viral load within 6 months of randomization are eligible for this trial. * Patients with a prior or concurrent malignancy whose natural history or treatment does not have the potential to interfere with the safety or efficacy assessment of the investigational regimen are eligible for this trial. * Patients with known history or current symptoms of cardiac disease, or history of treatment with cardiotoxic agents, should have a clinical risk assessment of cardiac function using the New York Heart Association Functional Classification. To be eligible for this trial, patients should be class 2B or better.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15232, United States
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