Significance of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Radical Mastectomy for Breast Cancer

Objective To study the feasibility and accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsy(SLNB) for breast cancer and its clinical application value in breast cancer operation. Methods In this operation, 5 ml 1% methylene blue was injected into two sites around the tumor. After 5 to 10 minutes, according to the distance between tumor and axilla, the skin was cut along the crease under axilla and sentinel lymph node(SLN) was found along the blue stained lymphatic vessel. Among the 32 patients registered, 27 received axillary lymph node dissection(ALND) after SLN resection, and two specimens from each case were delivered to pathologic exam at the same time in order to study the coincidence rate and evaluate the feasibility of SLNB. Results 32 patients received SLNB recognization and localization. One case did not get SLN in operation.Detection rate of SLN was 96.9%. One patient's pathologic result of SLN showed false negative. According to SLNB evaluation criterion abroad, in this trial, sensitivity of SLNB was 88.2%, accuracy 96.9%, false positive rate 0 and false negative 5.9%. Conclusions At present, SLNB for breast cancer is still at the research phase. With further and deeper study, SLNB may replace routine ALND.