Lymphatic Mapping And Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy In The Patients With Breast Cancer

[ Objective ] To identify the feasibility of the lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy(SLNB) in patients with breast ceacer and to examine whether the characteristics of the sentinel lymph node(SLN) accurately predict the status of axillary lymph nodes.[ Methods ] From Janually 2001 to march 2003,32 patients with breast cancer were evaluated at the Fujian Provincial Hospital.Lymphatic mapping was performed using Methlene Blue.Any blue-stained node was defined as a SLN.Thirty-two patients,with breast cancer underwent a complete axillary lymph node resection(ALNR) after SLN biopsy. Subsequently,all SLNs and ALNs were examined by both H&E staining and immunohistochemical staining for cytokeratin.[Results] Lymphatic mapping was successful in identifying the SLN in 27/32(84.4%)cases of nodes.An average of 1.2(0-3) nodes per patient were excised as SLN, and an average of 11.4(7-21) nodes were excised in the ALNR.The sensitivity of SLNB using Methlene Blue in this study was 80.0%(8/10),accuracy 85.2%(23/27),specificity 88.2%(15/17),and false negative rate 20.0%(2/10).[ Conclusion] SLNB using Methlene Blue can predict the status of the axillary lymph nodes reliably.Although the success rate, the sensitivity and the accuracy of SLNB should be improved,yet the method is used widely in clinical study because of its convinience and efficiency.