Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Sentinel Node Biopsy Interpretation: The Milan Experience.

Viviana Galimberti1, Stefano Zurrida, Mattia Intra

  • 1Departments of Senology, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and Nuclear Medicine, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.

The Breast Journal
|May 12, 2001
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Circulating tumor DNA in early breast cancer: Evidence, challenges, next steps.

Cancer·2026
Same author

Assessing in house comprehensive genomic profiling by liquid biopsy for NSCLC patients.

Tumori·2026
Same author

Liquid biopsies for BRAF V600E assessment and monitoring in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma: a real-world study of a tertiary cancer center.

Endocrine·2026
Same author

Adjuvant chemotherapy in stage I triple-negative breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of survival outcomes.

Cancer treatment reviews·2026
Same author

Golden rules for optimizing the diagnostic pathway of IDH-mutant tumors: bridging evidence and clinical practice in cholangiocarcinoma and adult-type diffuse gliomas.

Pathologica·2026
Same author

Hodgkin Reed-Sternberg Cells of Classic Hodgkin Lymphoma: Morphology, Phenotype, Genotype, and Cell of Origin.

Cancers·2026

Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) accurately stages early breast cancer axillas. This safe procedure identifies sentinel nodes (SNs) using radioactive tracers, reducing the need for extensive axillary dissection.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Surgical Pathology
  • Nuclear Medicine

Background:

  • Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) is a minimally invasive technique for staging the axilla in early breast cancer patients.
  • Accurate axillary staging is crucial for determining appropriate treatment and prognosis.
  • Traditional methods like complete axillary dissection carry significant morbidity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the safety and accuracy of sentinel node biopsy (SNB) in staging breast cancer patients.
  • To refine the SNB technique, including tracer injection, imaging, and surgical removal.
  • To compare SNB accuracy with intraoperative frozen section analysis and complete axillary dissection.

Main Methods:

  • Performed 1,266 SNBs using technetium 99m-labeled albumin particles and a gamma-detecting probe.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Phase 1: Assessed SNB accuracy against complete axillary dissection and optimized technique.
  • Phase 2: Developed and validated an improved intraoperative histologic analysis method for sentinel nodes (SNs).
  • Phase 3: Initiated a randomized trial comparing SNB with complete axillary dissection for staging and survival outcomes.

    • Main Results:

    • SN identification and removal success rate was 98.7%.
    • SNB accurately predicted axillary status in 96.8% of cases, significantly higher than intraoperative frozen section (86.5%).
    • The refined intraoperative histologic analysis achieved accuracy comparable to definitive examination.

    Conclusions:

    • Sentinel node biopsy is a safe and highly accurate method for staging the axilla in early breast cancer.
    • SNB effectively predicts axillary status, potentially avoiding unnecessary complete axillary dissection.
    • Ongoing trials aim to confirm long-term survival benefits and further validate SNB's role in breast cancer management.