TUESDAY, Aug. 23, 2005 (HealthDay News) -- Even women with relatively large breast cancer tumors can benefit from a less invasive biopsy method that's so far been reserved for women with small tumors, researchers report.
The technique -- lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy -- is used to determine the cancer's progression into nearby lymph nodes, and can help some patients avoid the pain and discomfort of full armpit node removal.
"I think any woman diagnosed with breast cancer should ask her physician what role this technique might play in her overall treatment," lead researcher Dr. David W. Ollila, of the University of North Carolina's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in Chapel Hill, said in a statement.
The process involves injection of a blue dye into the area near the tumor. The dye follows the path tumor cells most likely would take to the lymph nodes. Surgeons then remove only those nodes that initially absorb the dye, to assess whether the cancer has spread from the tumor.
However, the surgical technique has not been offered to women with large breast tumors because it hasn't yet been proven reliable.
That could change. Reporting in the September issue of The American Journal of Surgery, the UNC team found the procedure accurately predicted the cancer's progress in 21 women with large tumors, with zero false positives.
"Our study indicates that women with large breast cancer can derive a benefit from the sentinel node technology just like women with small breast cancers," Ollila said.
However, they found the procedure is only accurate if performed prior to chemotherapy.
"If seminal node biopsy is done after chemotherapy, the false negative rate skyrockets," the UNC researcher said.
More information
The National Cancer Institute has more about lymph node removal.
