Debate has reignited over the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy in melanoma care, after the Federal Government announced a new $485 Medicare item to fund the procedure.

Introduced after a multi-year campaign by the Australian Society of Specialist General Surgeons, the item will be available from Monday for patients with melanoma down to 1mm Breslow thickness, as well as those ≥0.8mm with high-risk features. 

Known as SLNBx, its results are meant to guide treatment, with patients with stage IIIB, IIIC or IIID melanoma in the sentinel nodes eligible for PBS-subsidised adjuvant therapy (see box for details). 

But there has been a long debate about the value of the procedure.