Sentinel lymph node detection in early cervical cancer with combination 99mTc phytate and patent blue.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to examine sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection in patients with early stage cervical cancer using (99m)Tc phytate and patent blue dye and to compare our method with published findings utilizing other radioisotopic tracers.


METHODS
A total of 20 consecutive patients with cervical cancer scheduled for radical hysterectomy and total pelvic lymphadenectomy at our hospital underwent SLN detection study. The day before surgery, lymphoscintigraphy was performed with injection of 99m-technetium ((99m)Tc)-labeled phytate into the uterine cervix. At surgery, patients underwent lymphatic mapping with a gamma-detecting probe and patent blue injected into the same points as the phytate solution.


RESULTS
At least one positive node was detected in 18 patients (90%). A total of 46 sentinel nodes were detected (mean, 2.3; range, 1-5). Most sentinel nodes were in one of the following sites: external iliac (21 nodes), obturator (15 nodes), and parametrial (7 nodes). Eleven (24%) sentinel nodes were detected only through radioactivity and two (4%) were detected only with blue dye. The sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value for SLN detection were all 100%. Nine published studies involving 295 patients had a summarized detection rate of 85%. Summarized sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value were 93%, 100%, and 99%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Combination of (99m)Tc phytate and patent blue is effective in SLN detection in early stage cervical cancer.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Sendai 980-8574, Japan. niikura@ob-gy.med.tohoku.ac.jp
Hitoshi
H
Niikura
Chikako
C
Okamura
Junichi
J
Akahira
Tadao
T
Takano
Kiyoshi
K
Ito
Kunihiro
K
Okamura
Nobuo
N
Yaegashi
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D010833:Phytic Acid; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery
D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; C026177:technetium phytate; D010833:Phytic Acid; C008769:sulfan blue