[Sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer: feasibility study and initial experiments].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate and accredit the sentinel lymph node biopsy in the surgical treatment of breast cancer in our institute.


METHODS
From February to September 2001 at Tenon Hospital, 64 patients with breast cancer and clinically negative node underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy followed immediately by standard axillary dissection. Both blue dye and radioisotope were used in the majority of patients (70.4%) to identify the sentinel node. These sentinel nodes were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin, immunohistochemistry and multiple sections.


RESULTS
The mean tumor diameter was 17.2 mm (range, 7 to 40 mm). The sentinel node was identified in 97% of the cases (62/64). Of the 62 patients, 24 were histologically positive (38.7%). The sentinel node was falsely negative in one patient (4%). In patients with tumors less than 20 mm, the identification and false negative rates were 97.8% and 0%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study confirms the validity of the sentinel lymph node. This procedure identifies in a reliable way the sentinel node in most cases. The histological characteristics of the sentinel node reflect those of the rest of the axillary lymph nodes. This procedure appears more accurate for patients with tumors less than 20 mm. This procedure will become the method of choice for axillary staging in small-sized breast cancer. This minimally invasive procedure represents a major step in the field of breast cancer treatment.
Barranger
E
E
Service de gynécologie-obstétrique, hôpital Tenon, 4, rue de la Chine, 75020 Paris, France. emmanuel.barranger@tnn.ap-hop-paris.fr
Grahek
D
D
Antoine
M
M
Benchimol
Y
Y
Talbot
J N
JN
Uzan
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy