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Updated: Mar 28, 2026
Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping and Biopsy for Endometrial Cancer at Early Stage with Laparoscopy
Published on: August 19, 2021
Initial experience in sentinel lymph node detection in pancreatic cancer
M Beisani1, I Roca2, R Cardenas2
1Department of HPB Surgery, Hospital Vall d'Hebron, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Background:
The local recurrence of pancreatic cancer is around 30% when complete resection can be achieved. Extended lymphatic resections may improve survival, but increases severe morbidity. As accurate patient selection should be mandatory, a new method is presented for pancreatic sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection with lymphoscintigraphy and gamma probe.
Materials And Methods:
Seven patients with cT2N0M0 pancreatic head cancer were enrolled between 2009 and 2012 in this prospective study. One day prior to surgery, preoperative lymphoscintigraphy with echoendoscopic intratumoural administration of Tc(99m)-labelled nanocolloid was performed, with planar and SPECT-CT images obtained 2h later. Gamma probe detection of SLN was also carried out during surgery.
Results:
Radiotracer administration was feasible in all patients. Scintigraphy images showed inter-aortocaval lymph nodes in 2 patients, hepatoduodenal ligament lymph nodes in 1, intravascular injection in 3, intestinal transit in 5, and main pancreatic duct visualisation in 1. Surgical resection could only be achieved in 4 patients owing to locally advanced disease. Intraoperative SLN detection was accomplished in 2 patients, both with negative results. Only in one patient could SLN be confirmed as truly negative by final histopathological analysis.
Conclusions:
This new method of pancreatic SLN detection is technically feasible, but challenging. Our preliminary results with 7 patients are not sufficient for clinical validation.
