Related Experiment Videos
Sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma
Y Fukui1, T Yamakawa, T Taniki
1Department of Surgery, Kochi Municipal Hospital, Kochi, Japan. jfkyo@bronze.ocn.ne.jp
Cancer
|December 26, 2001
Summary
Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) using methylene blue is a safe and feasible technique for assessing cervical lymph node status in papillary thyroid carcinoma patients. This method shows good correlation with regional lymph node status, aiding in prognosis evaluation.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Surgical Oncology
- Nuclear Medicine
Background:
- The role of modified radical neck dissection (MRND) in papillary thyroid carcinoma prognosis is debated, though lymph node dissection likely reduces local recurrence.
- Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is a validated method for lymph node assessment in melanoma and breast cancer.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the feasibility of SLNB for assessing cervical lymph node status in papillary thyroid carcinoma patients.
Main Methods:
- Methylene blue was injected around tumors in 22 papillary thyroid carcinoma patients to identify and dissect sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs).
- All patients underwent SLNB, subtotal thyroidectomy, and MRND.
- SLNs and other lymph nodes were analyzed for number, distribution, size, status, and metastatic ratio.
Main Results:
- SLNB showed concordance with regional lymph node status in 90.5% of evaluable patients (19/21).
- The overall reliability of SLNB was 86.3% (19/22 patients).
- No complications were reported with methylene blue use for SLN detection.
Conclusions:
- SLNB using methylene blue is technically feasible, safe, and correlates well with cervical lymph node status in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
- SLNB is a reliable technique for estimating lymph node status in these patients.