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The concept of the sentinel lymph node is important because of the advent of the sentinel lymph node biopsy technique, also known as a sentinel node procedure. This technique is used in the staging of certain types of cancer to see if they have spread to any lymph nodes, since lymph node metastasis is one of the most important prognostic signs .
To locate the draining lymph nodes or sentinel lymph nodes from a breast cancer tumour, a Technetium-99m based radiopharmaceutical is common. This may be a nanocolloid or sestamibi . [ 7 ] Although imaging with a gamma camera may also take place, the idea of a small gamma probe is that it can be used to identify lymph nodes (or other sites ...
Lymph node biopsy is a test in which a lymph node or a piece of a lymph node is removed for examination under a microscope (see: biopsy). The lymphatic system is made up of several lymph nodes connected by lymph vessels. The nodes produce white blood cells (lymphocytes) that fight infections. When an infection is present, the lymph nodes swell ...
The term "axilla" refers to the armpit or underarm section of the body. [2] The axillary dissection procedure is commonly used in treating the underarm portion of women who are dealing with breast cancer. [3] The lymph nodes located in the axilla area that are affected by breast cancer are called the guardian or sentinel lymph nodes.
For clinical stages I and II breast cancer, axillary lymph node dissection should only be performed after first attempting sentinel node biopsy. [4] If cancer cells are found in the nodes, it increases the risk of metastatic breast cancer. Another method of determining breast cancer spread is to perform an endoscopic axillary sentinel node biopsy.
A sentinel node biopsy can establish cancer staging of the axilla if there are positive lymph nodes present. [5] It is also less risky than performing a lymphadenectomy, having fewer side effects and a much lower chance of causing lymphedema. [5] If cancer is not present in the sentinel lymph nodes, then the axillary lymph node dissection ...
The sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is the standard of care for detecting nodal metastases in cutaneous melanoma patients and has been the most informative prognostic factor to guide subsequent treatment. However, ~85% of patients undergoing this procedure have no evidence of nodal metastasis.
Since other studies have found that 3 to 11.1% of EPC tumors had spread to nearby axillary lymph nodes at presentation, sentinel axillary lymph node biopsies have sometimes been added to surgical tumor removal with the goal of checking these lymph nodes for metastases which, if present, lead to do further studies such as medical imaging to look ...