Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Efficacy in Breast Cancer: A 4-year Experience Report

Abstract

Sentinel lymph node biopsy has been one of the most important advances in oncologic surgery, especially in breast cancer, since it decreases the high morbidity associated with radical axillary dissection, and allows treatment personalization. The staging of axillary nodes in breast cancer is fundamental as it is a prognostic indicator and determines the need for adjuvant therapy. Sentinel lymph node is detected by injecting a radioisotope and dye through the periareolar area that consequently travels through mammary glands to axillary lymph nodes. We conducted a retrospective study that included 57 women with a histopathological diagnosis of breast cancer, and underwent sentinel node biopsy. Transoperative pathology analysis reported metastases in 24% of the patients, requiring radical axillary dissection. Sensitivity was 97%, and specificity was 85%, reflecting high efficacy of the sentinel lymph node biopsy, and thus benefitting patients by decreasing morbidity. Sentinel node biopsy is the standard procedure for correct staging of patients with early breast cancer, and no clinical evidence of lymph node involvement. Further, it decreases morbidity in these patients by preventing radical axillary dissection, a previously standard approach, without compromising the diagnosis and hence, the prognosis of the patients. We demonstrated that with the correct technique for sentinel lymph node biopsy, the prognosis for patients is much better than for those patients that undergo radical axillary dissection.