title: Update on the sentinel lymph node procedure in vulvar cancer.
abstract: Currently, standard treatment for early-stage vulvar cancer typically includes wide local excision of the primary tumor and inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy. The morbidity of this treatment is high. The sentinel lymph node (SLN) procedure provides us with a technique for determining the status of the regional lymph nodes with less treatment-related morbidity. Recently, a large multicenter observational study provided level 3 evidence indicating that it appears safe to omit inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy in case of a negative SLN. This review focuses on the different aspects of the SLN procedure in vulvar cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecologic Oncology, University Medical Centre Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands. m.h.m.oonk@og.umcg.nl
authors.forename: Maaike H M
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Oonk
authors.forename: Hedwig P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: van de Nieuwenhof
authors.forename: Ate G J
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: van der Zee
authors.forename: Joanne A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: de Hullu
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D014846:Vulvar Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*