Table 1 Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of melanoma

1999: Lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy should be considered for all melanomas > 1.0 mm thick provided they can be done in the context of a controlled clinical trial and by surgeons trained in these procedures

2008: Patients with a melanoma > 1.0 mm in thickness should be given the opportunity to discuss sentinel lymph node biopsy to provide staging and prognostic information

2018: Sentinel lymph node biopsy should be considered for all patients with melanoma > 1.0 mm in thickness and for patients with melanoma > 0.8 mm with other high risk pathological features to provide optimal staging and prognostic information and to maximise management options for patients who are node positive