Sentinel node and radioguided surgery in breast cancer of limited size, preliminary experience at ASL 1, Massa e Carrara

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of sentinel node (S N) biopsy in breast cancer. Twenty-five female patients classified as T1N0 according to the TNM system of the UICC were evaluated with this procedure from April to October 1999, The day before surgery a subdermal injection of Tc-99m-nanocoll within the tissue overlying the neoplastic lesion and subs equent lymphoscintigraphy were performed. In all patients the SN was detect ed with a radioguided probe during scintigraphy and surgery. Histological e xamination of the SN for detection of metastases was positive in four patie nts who subsequently underwent axillary dissection. In the remaining patien ts with normal SNs no axillary dissection was performed. The preliminary re sults confirm the validity of the sentinel node procedure.