Sentinel Node Biopsy for Lymph Node Removal

For Release: April 9, 2000

Sentinel Node Biopsy Makes Lymph Node Removal Unnecessary in Certain Breast Cancer Patients

Surgeons have begun to offer biopsy of the sentinel lymph node (the first node breast cancer strikes) as an alternative to removing several lymph nodes in women with small spreading breast cancers.

This procedure would eliminate the need for general anesthesia, which is used for surgical removal of the nodes, and would spare women the pain and discomfort common with the more extensive lymph node dissection. Surgical removal of the axillary lymph nodes can result in numbness, scarring, and lymphedema, or swelling.

The value of sentinel lymph node biopsy was described by two national experts at the 29th National Conference on Breast Cancer in San Francisco April 9. The meeting was sponsored by the American College of Radiology.

Outlining the benefits of the procedure were Drs. Laura Liberman, associate attending radiologist, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY and Stefanie S. Jeffrey, chief of breast surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.

The sentinel node is the first node draining a tumor and whether the node contains cancer cells predicts the status of the regional nodes. The sentinel node can be identified with blue dye, radioisotope, or a combination of methods, excised, and analyzed.

Women with small breast cancers detected by screening mammography are least likely to have cancer in the nearby lymph nodes and, therefore, are likely to benefit from removal of these nodes. They would benefit most from the sentinel node breast biopsy.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy is most appropriate for women with small, spreading cancers. In these patients the frequency of finding cancer in the axillary nodes is 24-34 per cent.

The American College of Radiology is a major medical association with more than 32,000 members worldwide. The membership includes diagnostic radiologists, radiation oncologists and medical physicists.

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