title: Surgical sentinel lymph node biopsy in early breast cancer. Could it be avoided by performing a preoperative staging procedure? A pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this pilot trial was to study the feasibility of sentinel node percutaneous preoperative gamma probe-guided biopsy as a valid preoperative method of assessment of nodal status compared to surgical sentinel lymph node biopsy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective study enrolled 10 consecutive patients without evidence of axillary lymph node metastases at preoperative imaging. All patients underwent sentinel node occult lesion localization (SNOLL) using radiotracer intradermic injection that detected a "hot spot" corresponding to the sentinel node in all cases. Gamma probe over the skin detection with subsequent ultrasonographically guided needle biopsy of the sentinel node were performed. The percutaneous needle core histopathological diagnosis was compared to the results of the surgical biopsy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Preoperative sentinel node identification was successful in all patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combination of preoperative gamma probe sentinel node detection and ultrasound-guided biopsy could represent a valid alternative to intraoperative sentinel node biopsy in clinically and ultrasonographically negative axillary nodes, resulting in shorter duration of surgery and lower intraoperative risks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Senology Unit, IRCCS Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Rozzano (Milano), Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Testori
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meroni
authors.forename: Oana Codrina
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Moscovici
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Magnoni
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Malerba
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiti
authors.forename: Daoud
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rahal
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Travaglini
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Cariboni
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alloisio
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Orefice
mesh_terms: D001707:Biopsy, Needle / Q000379:methods*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061705:Image-Guided Biopsy / Q000379:methods*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011849:Radioactive Tracers; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D011849:Radioactive Tracers