BACKGROUND: The role of axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in breast cancer is currently being reevaluated. Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) holds promise for replacing full dissection in a large number of patients with breast cancer. MATERIALS: We evaluated SNB utilizing an intraoperative gamma probe localization technique following injection of technetium sulfur colloid in 80 patients with primary breast cancer and clinically negative axillae. Forty-eight patients were evaluated at Baptist Medical Center, Montgomery, Alabama, and 32 at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. RESULTS: At least one sentinel node was found in 70 of the 80 patients (88%). One patient had a sentinel node in both the axilla and internal mammary chain. The remainder had axillary sentinel nodes only. The sentinel nodes accurately predicted the status of the axilla in 69 of the 70 patients (99%). One of 14 node-positive patients would have been missed with sentinel node biopsy alone, for a false negative rate of 7%. Four node-positive patients would have been missed with routine ALND without serial sectioning (SS) and immunohistochemical staining (IH) of the sentinel node. CONCLUSIONS: Sentinel node biopsy with SS and IH more precisely predicted the status of the axilla than routine ALND in this group of patients. SNB will likely replace full axillary dissection in the majority of patients with breast cancer.
BACKGROUND: The role of axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in breast cancer is currently being reevaluated. Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) holds promise for replacing full dissection in a large number of patients with breast cancer. MATERIALS: We evaluated SNB utilizing an intraoperative gamma probe localization technique following injection of technetium sulfur colloid in 80 patients with primary breast cancer and clinically negative axillae. Forty-eight patients were evaluated at Baptist Medical Center, Montgomery, Alabama, and 32 at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois. RESULTS: At least one sentinel node was found in 70 of the 80 patients (88%). One patient had a sentinel node in both the axilla and internal mammary chain. The remainder had axillary sentinel nodes only. The sentinel nodes accurately predicted the status of the axilla in 69 of the 70 patients (99%). One of 14 node-positive patients would have been missed with sentinel node biopsy alone, for a false negative rate of 7%. Four node-positive patients would have been missed with routine ALND without serial sectioning (SS) and immunohistochemical staining (IH) of the sentinel node. CONCLUSIONS: Sentinel node biopsy with SS and IH more precisely predicted the status of the axilla than routine ALND in this group of patients. SNB will likely replace full axillary dissection in the majority of patients with breast cancer.
Authors: K M McMasters; S L Wong; R C Martin; C Chao; T M Tuttle; R D Noyes; D J Carlson; A L Laidley; T Q McGlothin; P B Ley; C M Brown; R L Glaser; R E Pennington; P S Turk; D Simpson; P B Cerrito; M J Edwards Journal: Ann Surg Date: 2001-05 Impact factor: 12.969
Authors: S P Somashekhar; S Zaveri Shabber; K Udupa Venkatesh; K Venkatachala; M M Vasan Thirumalai Journal: Indian J Surg Date: 2008-07-24 Impact factor: 0.656
Authors: Giorgio Zavagno; Gian Luca De Salvo; Dario Casara; Paola Del Bianco; Domenico Rubello; Fabrizio Meggiolaro; Carlo Riccardo Rossi; Mariaelena Pierobon; Mario Lise Journal: BMC Cancer Date: 2004-01-22 Impact factor: 4.430
Authors: P J Tanis; O E Nieweg; R A Valdés Olmos; J L Peterse; E J Th Rutgers; C A Hoefnagel; B B R Kroon Journal: Br J Cancer Date: 2002-09-23 Impact factor: 7.640