BACKGROUND The exact lymphatic drainage pattern of the breast hasn't been explained clearly. The aim of this study was to investigate the sentinel lymphatic channels (SLCs) in the cancerous breast. Whether the type of SLCs influenced the detection rate and false-negative rate of SLNB was also assessed. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Mimic SLNB was performed in 110 early-stage breast cance...

BACKGROUND After the availability of the results of validation studies, the sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has replaced routine axillary dissection (AD) as the new standard of care in early unifocal breast cancers. Multifocal (MF) and multicentric (MC) tumors have been considered a contraindication for this technique due to the possible incidence of a higher false-negative rate. This prospec...

AIM The purpose of this study is to evaluate prognosis and surgical management of head and neck melanoma (HNM) and the accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). PATIENTS AND METHODS All patients with a primary cutaneous melanoma treated starting from 01/07/1994 to 31/12/2012 in the department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of Bari are included in a electronic clinical medical regi...

OBJECTIVES To assess whether MRI can exclude axillary lymph node metastasis, potentially replacing sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), and consequently eliminating the risk of SLNB-associated morbidity. METHODS PubMed, Cochrane, Medline and Embase databases were searched for relevant publications up to July 2014. Studies were selected based on predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria and in...

The Z11 trial demonstrated a subgroup of patients with low axillary burden who do not benefit from axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) at short-term follow-up when treated with adjuvant whole-breast radiotherapy and systemic therapy. We consider the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and look at and beyond the Z11 trial to consider further imaging studies, which may offer truly minimal...

The management of lymph nodes in nonmelanoma skin cancer patients is currently still debated. Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), pigmented epithelioid melanocytoma (PEM), and other rare skin neoplasms have a well-known risk to spread to regional lymph nodes. The use of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) could be a promising procedure to assess this risk in clinically N0 ...

We present a case of a 3-year-old male originally diagnosed with a CD30+ anaplastic cutaneous T-cell lymphoma with no evidence of systemic disease after CT scan, PET scan, and bone marrow aspiration. Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) was performed as an additional step in the workup and showed microscopic disease. Current management/recommendations for cutaneous T-cell lymphoma do not include S...

Since there are no standardized protocols regarding the detection of microscopic melanoma deposits in sentinel lymph nodes (SLN), the aim of this study was to present our experience with intraoperative cytological evaluation of SLN in patients with melanoma. The study included 475 SLN biopsies (SLNB) from 201 patients with primary cutaneous melanoma of intermediate thickness. Each lymph node wa...

The use of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has revolutionized breast surgery for early stage breast cancer. SLNB accurately stages the axilla without the morbidity of axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). While allowing those patients with No disease to avoid a potentially morbid dissection, SLNB is a diagnostic procedure which identifies nodal disease and is not designed to replace ALND in ...

BACKGROUND Lymphatic spread in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains a critical factor for staging, treatment, and prognosis. Involvement of the regional lymphatics portends approximately 50% decrease in survival. OSCC–cervical metastases remain common. Due to the inaccuracy of the physical exam and imaging to reliably detect occult disease, elective neck dissections (ENDs) have be...