Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping

In treating breast cancer, it is very important to know if the cancer has spread beyond the breast. Fortunately, for many, the risk of metastasis – the medical term used to describe cancer that has spread to other parts of the body – is relatively low.

Doctors use an imaging test called lymphoscintigraphy – or sentinal lymph node mapping – to locate and biopsy the sentinel lymph node. The sentinel node is the first node that filters fluid from the breast and typically the first to be affected by the spread of cancer.

A sentinel node biopsy can reveal whether or not the cancer has spread, and how far. It also helps doctors stage your cancer and determine the best course of treatment.

If the sentinel node does not contain cancer, there is a high likelihood that the cancer has not spread to any other area of the body, which may reduce the amount of surgery or radiation/chemotherapy you need to have. If the sentinel node is positive, the surgeon may perform a lumpectomy or axillary (underarm) node dissection to assess how many other lymph nodes are affected. Cancer cells found in secondary and more distant lymph nodes suggest that it may have spread to other parts of the body and warrants more aggressive therapy.

Preparing for Your Visit
In most cases, sentinal lymph node mapping and biopsy are scheduled the same day as a simple outpatient procedure.

On the day of the scheduled procedure, patients are asked to arrive a few hours early at Sarasota Memorial’s Breast Health Center, located across the street from the main hospital in the Waldemere Medical Plaza, 1921 Waldemere Street, Suite 110.

There, a radiologist will locate your tumor and inject a small, non-toxic amount of the radioactive tracer and blue dye into it. Following the injection, you will be taken to the hospital’s Nuclear Medicine Department for an imaging study, and for the next hour or two a computer will record the path of the radioactive material towards the draining lymph nodes. The first lymph node to pick up the tracer is the sentinel node.

Most patients go to surgery within two hours of their scan, which aids the surgeon in locating and removing the sentinel node. That and any other affected lymph nodes are removed and sent to the hospital’s Pathology lab for testing.

There are usually no side effects, and most patients go home the same day. If you are or suspect you might be pregnant, please tell your doctor, nurse or technician.

If you have any questions about your tests or treatments, call Sarasota Memorial’s Breast Health Center at (941) 917-2636.