Efficacy of Methylene Blue in Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Early Breast Cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Sentinel lymph node biopsy is the recommended approach in the evaluation of axilla during breast cancer surgery. In this study, results of patients who underwent methylene blue sentinel lymph node biopsy were evaluated.


METHODS
The study included 32 female patients with T1 and T2 tumors. 5 ml of 1% methylene blue was injected into the peritumoral area or around the cavity. The axillary sentinel lymph node was found and removed, and then axillary dissection was performed. The sentinel lymph node and axillary dissection specimen were histopathologically examined and the results were compared.


RESULTS
The sentinel lymph node was found in 30 (94%) patients. Lymph node metastasis was not observed in 17 patients in both the sentinel lymph node and axilla. Two patients had metastasis in the axilla although this was not detected in sentinel lymph node. Eleven patients had metastasis both in the sentinel lymph node and in the axilla. The accuracy rate was 93%, and the false negativity rate was identified as 15%.


CONCLUSIONS
Sentinel lymph node biopsy by methylene blue is a method that can be applied with high accuracy. Methylene blue can be considered as an alternative to isosulphane blue in sentinel lymph node biopsy.
Department of General Surgery, Bucak State Hospital, Burdur, Turkey.
Altan
A
Özdemir
Department of General Surgery, Antalya Education and Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey.
Burhan
B
Mayir
Department of General Surgery, Gaziantep 25 Aralık State Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey.
Kenan
K
Demirbakan
Department of General Surgery, Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, Antalya, Turkey.
Nezihi
N
Oygür
Breast cancer; methylene blue; sentinel lymph node