Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2026
Multispectral Real-time Fluorescence Imaging for Intraoperative Detection of the Sentinel Lymph Node in Gynecologic Oncology
Published on: October 20, 2010
Implementation of molecular intra-operative assessment of sentinel lymph node in breast cancer
Abir Khaddage1, Sid-Ali Berremila, Fabien Forest
1Department of Pathology, Service d'Anatomie Pathologique, S Etienne University Hospital, St Etienne, France. abir.khaddage@chu-st-etienne.fr
Background:
Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is used as a staging procedure in early breast cancer, however, histology based intra-operative assessment of the SLN status has a low sensitivity. The one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) method was developed to detect metastases by amplification of cytokeratin (CK) 19 mRNA. Experience with OSNA during a French multi-centric prospective study, as well as intra-operative clinical routine use, is reported.
Patients And Methods:
For the clinical study 80 SLNs from 46 patients were assessed. During routine use, the central slice of the SLN from 197 patients was investigated by permanent histology and the remainder was assessed by OSNA.
Results:
During the clinical study, OSNA detected 15/17 metastases, including all the macrometastases, reaching a 96.3% concordance rate, 88.2% sensitivity and 98.4% specificity. During routine use, both OSNA and histology detected 25 patients with metastasis.
Conclusion:
OSNA is an accurate tool for intra-operative assessment of SLN status and could reduce the need for second surgery.
