Correlation of number and identification of sentinel nodes during radiographer led lymphoscintigraphy prior to sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer patients

Purpose: The sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) concept using the cutaneous (subdermal) peri-areolar approach is rapidly emerging as the technique for axillary staging in breast cancer. The procedure indicates whether axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is necessary, therefore drastically minimising the invasiveness of surgical treatment. The SLNB concept is based on evidence suggesting that malignant disease primarily affects the sentinel node (SN) before being disseminated into the axillary lymph nodes (ALNs). Objective: This study was to define the role of lymphoscintigraphy in the visualisation of SNs during SLNB and to establish the correlation between the number of SNs identified on lymphoscintigraphy to the number of surgically identified SNs. Method: The study was a non-experimental, correlation study utilising quantitative data. Lymphoscintigraphy reports and histology results of 55 female breast cancer patients who underwent SLNB with partial or total back-up ALND, were retrospectively evaluated. Results: A maximum of 2 and a minimum of 0 sentinel nodes were visualised on lymphoscintigraphy in 52 out of 55 patients. Successful lymphoscintigraphy was highly predictive (p <= 0.001) of a successful SLNB as all 52 patients (94.5%) proceeded to have successful SN/s identification. There was a significant association (p <= 0.05) between the number of SN/s visualised on lymphoscintigraphy and the number of SN/s identified during SLNB. Lymphoscintigraphy accurately predicted the number of surgically identified SNs in 50.91% of cases (28/55). Conclusion: Considering that successful imaging effectively assures SN identification, the routine use of lymphoscintigraphy using the subdermal peri-areolar approach is fundamental in the reliable performance of SLNB. (C) 2011 The College of Radiographers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.