European Journal of Gynaecological Oncology (EJGO) is published by IMR Press from Volume 40 Issue 1 (2019). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with S.O.G.
Identification of the sentinel lymph node stained with blue dye in breast cancer patients
Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the reproductlity of sentinel lymphadenectomy in breast cancer patients (T2N0M0 and T2N1M0) and its possility of predicting the total axillary behavior. Methods: A total of 25 patients were evaluated, all presenting palpable mammary nodes between 1.5 and 5 cm (T0 and T2), with clinically negative axillary lymph nodes (N0) After an incisional biopsy of the tumor and histopathological confirmation of invasive breast carcinoma, a study of the sentinel lymph node took place with a peritumoral injection of 4 ml of blue dye at 2.5%. After waiting for 15 to 20 minutes, a search for the blue stained lymphatic vase in the axillary fat was carried out, which would lead to the sentinel lymph node, stained or not. At that point, a mastectomy (20 patients) or a quadrantectomy (5 patients) was performed, both with axillary lymphadenectomy at grades 1, 2 and 3. The sentinel lymph nodes and the material from the axillary dissection were sent separately for an anatomicopathological test in paraffin. Results: The lymph nodes were identified in 19 patients, which represented a 76% detection rate. There was a concordance between the sentinel lymphadenectomy and the standard axillary dissection in 68.4% of the patients. The false-positive and the falsenegative rates observed were 10% and 55.5%, respectively. A higher detection rate was found in tumors larger than 2 cm and situated in external quadrants. Conclusions: Sentinel lymphadenectomy identified the sentinel lymph node in the majority of the patients in this study, although the high rate of false-negatives observed prevented an accurate staging.