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The sentinel lymph node is the hypothetical first lymph node or group of nodes draining a cancer. In case of established cancerous dissemination it is postulated that the sentinel lymph nodes are the target organs primarily reached by metastasizing cancer cells from the tumor .
Lymph node metastasis is the spread of cancer cells into a lymph node.. Lymph node metastasis is different from malignant lymphoma.Lymphoma is a cancer of lymph node, rather than cancer in the lymph node, because lymphoma originates from the lymph node itself, instead of originating elsewhere (e.g., the breast or colon) and spreading to the lymph nodes.
In the lymphatic system, a lymph node is a secondary lymphoid organ. [5] Diagram of a lymph node showing lymphocytes. The primary function of lymph nodes is the filtering of lymph to identify and fight infection. In order to do this, lymph nodes contain lymphocytes, a type of white blood cell, which includes B cells and T cells.
The left supraclavicular nodes are the classical Virchow's node because they receive lymphatic drainage of most of the body (from the thoracic duct) and enters the venous circulation via the left subclavian vein. The metastasis may block the thoracic duct leading to regurgitation into the surrounding Virchow's nodes.
The detection of micrometastases in the sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) is the primary indicator of its spread to the regional lymph nodes, bone marrow, peripheral blood and ultimately to distant metastatic sites, since they are the first of the nodes that cancer would travel to. [3]
"Positive nodes" is a term that would be used by medical specialists to describe regional lymph nodes that tested positive for malignancy. It is common medical practice to test by biopsy at least one lymph node near a tumor site when carrying out surgery to examine or remove a tumor. This lymph node is then called a sentinel lymph node.
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.
N: degree of spread to regional lymph nodes. Nx: lymph nodes cannot be assessed; N0: no regional lymph nodes metastasis; N1: regional lymph node metastasis present; at some sites, tumor spread to closest or small number of regional lymph nodes; N2: tumor spread to an extent between N1 and N3 (N2 is not used at all sites)