Sentinel lymph node biopsy in pediatric soft tissue sarcoma patients: utility and concordance with imaging.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to report our experience with sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) for pediatric soft tissue sarcomas to add to the limited literature about its feasibility, utility, and concordance with pre-operative imaging, including CT and (18)F-FDG PET (PET) scanning.


METHODS
Medical records of patients with a sarcoma who underwent SLNB as part of their treatment for a soft tissue sarcoma at our institution from 2000 to 2011 were identified and reviewed.


RESULTS
Eight patients underwent SLNB for soft tissue sarcoma during the study period. Two patients had positive SLNBs; both of these patients had rhabdomyosarcoma. Three patients with pathologically enlarged lymph nodes on CT scan underwent PET functional imaging prior to SLNB. The PET suggested the presence of nodal disease in all three patients; however, only one of these patients had a positive SLNB.


CONCLUSIONS
Our series confirms that SLNB is feasible in pediatric sarcoma patients. Small numbers preclude definitive conclusions regarding the utility of SLNB compared with PET, however our data suggest functional imaging alone may not be sufficient to definitively determine lymph node status in these patients. Surgical lymph node sampling may still need to be performed to accurately identify nodal status in pediatric patients with soft tissue sarcoma.
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
Kaitlyn M
KM
Alcorn
Katherine J
KJ
Deans
Anthony
A
Congeni
Jason P
JP
Sulkowski
Rochelle
R
Bagatell
Peter
P
Mattei
Peter C
PC
Minneci
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D061305:Lymphoscintigraphy; D008297:Male; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011300:Preoperative Care; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012208:Rhabdomyosarcoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D004396:Coloring Agents; D012394:Rosaniline Dyes; C025484:iso-sulfan blue
CT scan; PET; Pediatrics; Positron emission tomography; Sarcoma; Sentinel lymph node