Application of new sentinl lymph node biopsy technique in selective axillary lymph node dissection

Objective To identify the status of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) and direct selective axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) according to the results of new sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) technique following sentinel lymph channel (SLC). Methods In this prospective non-randomized study, all patients received SLNB following SLC. Patients in group A received selective ALND according to the intraoperative pathologic results of SLNs (Patients in group A1 received ALND when the SLNs were positive,and patients in group A2 received SLNB only in case of negative SLNs) ,and all patients in group B received ALND following SLNB whatever the status of SLNs were. Results From July 2008 to June 2009,114 patients with early breast cancer received SLNB,and 112 patients' SLNs were identified. Twenty-eight,25 and 59 patients were selected as groups Al ,A2 and B,respectively. The dissection rate of SLNB with combined method and blue dye method was 98.1% (102/104) and 100.0% (10/10) (P >0.05) .respectively, the false negative rate was 2.30% (2/87) and the false positive rate was 0.89% (1/112).The number of SLN harvested by SLNB was 1-4 with a tot of 146 and an average of 1.3 per patient. The incidence of complication for ALND (52.9%) was higher than that for SLNB (4.0%) (x~2 = 15.9675, P < 0.01). Conclusion The new SLNB technique was accurate and reliable, which can decrease the false negative rate notably, direct selective ALND efficiently and decrease the complication. Key words: Breast carcinoma;  Sentinel lymph;  Biopsy