Staging efficacy of breast cancer with sentinel lymphadenectomy

Seventy-two patients underwent dye-guided or dye- and gamma probe-guided se ntinel lymphadenectomy (SLND) followed by complete axillary lymph node diss ection (ALND). The results of imprint cytology, frozen sections, and perman ent sections of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) were compared to each other a nd to the histologic findings in the nonsentinel nodes. The SLN was identif ied in 62 (88%) of 72 patients. Evaluation of the SLN on the permanent sect ions yielded a diagnostic accuracy of 95%, a sensitivity of 89%, and a spec ificity of 100, although the reliability of SLN diagnosis using frozen sect ions or imprint cytology is limited. Therefore, it may be concluded that SL ND with multiple sectioning and histopathologic examination of the SLNs can predict the presence or absence of axillary-node metastases in patients wi th breast cancer. However, further studies will be needed to investigate th e value of SLND in respect to the long-term regional control and any possib le detriment or benefit to survival, before it can replace routine ALND as the preferred staging operation for operable breast cancer.