Sentinel Lymph Node Surgery for Breast Cancer

Breast Cancer, Lymphedema, Sentinel Lymph Node, , ,

Sentinel Lymph Node Dissection

  • First applied to breast cancer patients in 1991
  • first widespread use was for cutaneous melanoma
  • SLN decreases axillary morbidity.  Lymphedema is 1%-3%.  Decreased risk of parethesias.
  • The axillary recurrence rate was 0% with the negative sentinel lymph node group in one of the studies.
  • Frozen section examinations of the lymph nodes in the OR has a false negative rate of 10-15%.

Axillary Lymph Node status in Breast Cancer

  • Axillary lymph node status is the strongest prognostic indicator for breast cancer patients.
  • Axillary lymph node status most likely doesn’t need identification with DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ) disease.  There is less than a 1% chance of a positive lymph node status in the axilla with DCIS.
  • If there is a suspicion of an invasive component of breast cancer than consider sentinel lymph node procedure for diagnosing Axillary lymph node status.