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Updated: Jun 1, 2026
The Application of 1% Methylene Blue Dye As a Single Technique in Breast Cancer Sentinel Node Biopsy
Published on: June 1, 2019
Localization and evaluation of sentinel lymph node in breast cancer from computed tomographic lymphography
Hongna Tan1, Benlong Yang, Jiong Wu
1Department of Radiology, Cancer Hospital/Institute, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Objective:
This study aimed to determine the accuracy of computed tomographic (CT) localization and CT-based diagnosis of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) metastasis.
Methods:
Thirty-four patients with confirmed breast cancer underwent 40-row CT scanning, and the first one or several lymph node(s) in the lymphatic drainage pathway was/were defined as the SLN(s). Dye and γ probe-guided SLN biopsy was performed on all patients. To accurately localize the SLN, 19 patients (55.9%) underwent the percutaneous lymph node puncture procedure. The morphologic features of all the SLNs on CT scans were analyzed and compared with the SLN biopsy pathologic diagnosis.
Results:
Sentinel lymph nodes were successfully identified for all patients without any significant adverse effects. All localized SLNs corresponded well with SLNs identified on SLN biopsy, with an accuracy of 89.5%. Accuracy increased to 100% when the CT scan technique was combined with the blue dye method. The size criteria for metastatic diagnosis had a sensitivity of 85%, which increased to 94.7% when long-to-short-axis ratio and margin characteristics were also considered.
Conclusions:
The CT lymphography combined with the blue dye method accurately localized the SLNs. The CT-based diagnostic criteria improved the diagnostic accuracy of SLN metastases and were useful for evaluating the axillary status in early stage breast cancer patients.
