Status of sentinel lymph node mapping in non-small cell lung cancer

Sentinel lymph node mapping has become the standard of care in melanoma and breast cancer, contributing to marked improvements in accurate staging and targeted treatment, while decreasing morbidity of aggressive nodal bed dissections. Since 1999, several groups have proposed similar mapping in lung cancer models with mixed success. This article reviews the research up to date and discusses opportunities to improve accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsy in non-small cell lung cancer.