Sentinel node mapping is becoming a routine procedure for staging of various malignancies, because it can determine lymph node status more precisely. Due to anatomical problems, localizing sentinel nodes in the head and neck region on the basis of conventional images can be difficult. New diagnostic tools can provide better visualization of sentinel nodes. In an attempt to keep up with possible...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Sentinel lymph node mapping has become a cornerstone of oncologic surgery because it is a proven method for identifying nodal disease in melanoma and breast cancer. In addition, it can ameliorate the surgical morbidity secondary to lymphadenectomy. However, experience with sentinel lymph node mapping for carcinoma of the colon and other visceral malignancies is limited. The purp...

PURPOSE To investigate the safety and clinical utility of the sentinel node procedure in early-stage vulvar cancer patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS A multicenter observational study on sentinel node detection using radioactive tracer and blue dye was performed in patients with T1/2 (< 4 cm) squamous cell cancer of the vulva. When the sentinel node was found to be negative at pathologic ultrasta...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the feasibility of sentinel node staging for detection of occult regional lymph node metastasis in high-risk cutaneous nonmelanoma malignancies. DESIGN Consecutive clinical case series. SETTING Referral university medical center. PATIENTS A consecutive sample of patients with a variety of high-risk nonmelanoma cutaneous malignancies without evidence of regional lymph...

BACKGROUND The aim of this pilot trial was to study the feasibility of sentinel node percutaneous preoperative gamma probe-guided biopsy as a valid preoperative method of assessment of nodal status compared to surgical sentinel lymph node biopsy. MATERIAL/METHODS This prospective study enrolled 10 consecutive patients without evidence of axillary lymph node metastases at preoperative imaging....

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the performance and feasibility of sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer patients using technetium-99m (99mTc) sulphur colloid and gamma probe. METHODS From May 2000 to March 2001, 70 patients with a tumour less than 5 cm with clinically negative axillary lymph nodes underwent sentinel node biopsy followed by standard axillary dissection. 99mTc sulphur colloid was ...

BACKGROUND We investigated the presence and distribution of the sentinel and the non-sentinel node micrometastases using complete serial sectioning and immunohistochemical staining (IHC), to inspect whether lymph node micrometastases spread to the sentinel lymph nodes first. METHODS A total of 35 patients, who underwent gastrectomy with a sentinel lymph node biopsy for gastric cancer, were en...

AIM To assess the influence of time on the reliability of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in breast cancer patients with previous excisional biopsy (EB), analyzing both the sentinel lymph node detection and the lymph node recurrence rate. MATERIAL AND METHODS Thirty-six patients with cT1/T2 N0 breast cancer and previous EB of the lesion underwent a lymphoscintigraphy after subdermal periare...

BACKGROUND The optimum timing of sentinel-lymph-node biopsy for breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy is uncertain. The SENTINA (SENTinel NeoAdjuvant) study was designed to evaluate a specific algorithm for timing of a standardised sentinel-lymph-node biopsy procedure in patients who undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy. METHODS SENTINA is a four-arm, prospective, multicent...

The prognostic value of the sentinel lymph node in Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) has been examined previously in heterogeneous retrospective studies. The current retrospective study included a homogeneous population of patients with a localized MCC, all staged with sentinel lymph node biopsy. Factors associated with 3-year progression-free survival were analysed using logistic regression. The sen...