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Lumpectomy with Sentinel Node Biopsy Questions about Lumpectomy with Sentinel Node Biopsy. |
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| Asked | Publicly Submitted Question | ||
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| 5/24/2005 | I'm 38 with invasive ductile, er-neg, grade 3, 2.3cm, her 2 nue neg. Had lumpectomy with 0.5mm focal margin. Doctors and I have agreed on AC-T chemo every 2 weeks and radiation to breast - whether or not lymph nodes are positive. No observable enlarged nodes per mammogram, sonagram, or palpitation. So why do a SNB? Can't we just do axilla radiation and not another surgery? Or do positive nodes HAVE to come out to keep cancer from spreading? (Thanks...) | ||
| Replied | JHU's Breast Center Reply | ||
| 5/25/2005 | sentinel node biopsy removes 1 node-- the guard node. the node most likely to contain cancer if the cancer has spread. it can prevent an axillary lymph node dissection and thereby reducing risk of lymphedema down to 1%. radiation of the axillae is only done when lymph nodes are known to have been positive. ultrasound can't see microscopic disease. | ||
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