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Current Concept of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

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Breast Cancer Essentials

Abstract

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) remains the gold standard for regional axillary staging in early, clinically and radiologically node-negative breast cancer. The technique of SLNB has been refined since its initial conception, and currently SLNB is a milestone of breast cancer surgical management. Cumulative evidence from randomized trials suggests that SLNB is accurate and safe in patients with early, clinically and radiologically node-negative disease. As a result, axillary node clearance (axillary lymph node dissection, ALND) has been abandoned as a staging procedure and is reserved for local control in certain cases of node-positive breast cancer. In recent years, emerging data from landmark trials have extended the use of SLNB beyond its well-established scope, for instance in patients with node-positive breast cancer who receive primary systemic therapy. Moreover, modern data suggest that SLNB may be adequate as a means of staging as well as of local control (i.e. leading to omission of ALND) in breast cancers with low axillary nodal burden. In this chapter, we elaborate on the current concept of SLNB and review its extended indications. We also explore the data relevant to complete omission of SLNB in selected invasive breast cancer cases, in line with very recent randomised trials currently underway.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Breast Unit, University College London Hospitals, London, UK

    Petros Charalampoudis & Christos Markopoulos

  2. Breast Unit, Athens University School of Medicine, Athens, Greece

    Petros Charalampoudis & Christos Markopoulos

Authors
  1. Petros Charalampoudis
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  2. Christos Markopoulos
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Correspondence to Christos Markopoulos .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. European Academia of Senology, Düsseldorf, Germany

    Mahdi Rezai

  2. Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey

    Mehmet Ali Kocdor

  3. University of Kocaeli, İzmit/Kocaeli, Turkey

    Nuh Zafer Canturk

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Charalampoudis, P., Markopoulos, C. (2021). Current Concept of Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy. In: Rezai, M., Kocdor, M.A., Canturk, N.Z. (eds) Breast Cancer Essentials. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73147-2_44

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73147-2_44

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-73146-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-73147-2

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