Role of Indocyanine Green in Sentinel Node Mapping in Gynecologic Cancer: Is Fluorescence Imaging the New Standard?

Sentinel lymph node biopsy has proven safe and feasible in a number of gynecologic cancers such as vulvar cancer, cervical cancer, and endometrial cancer. The proposed aim of lymphatic mapping and sentinel node identification is to decrease the associated morbidity of a complete lymphadenectomy, particularly the rate of lymphedema, while also increasing the detection of small tumor deposits in the node. Different tracers have been shown to be useful, including technetium-99 and blue dye, with a detection reported in 66% to 86%. Recently, there has been increasing interest in the use of fluorescent dies such as indocyanine green (ICG). In this report we provide a review of the existing literature regarding the use of ICG in cervical or endometrial cancer with the goal to provide details on its utility and compare it with other tracers.