REPORTS Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy and Axillary Dissection in Breast Cancer: Results in a Large Series

section is an established component of the surgical treatment of breast cancer, and is an important procedure in cancer staging; however, it is associated with unpleasant side effects. We have investigated a radioactive tracer-guided procedure that facilitates iden-tification, removal, and pathologic ex-amination of the sentinel lymph node (i.e., the lymph node first receiving lymphatic fluid from the area of the breast containing the tumor) to predict the status of the axilla and to assess the safety of foregoing axillary dissection if the sentinel lymph node shows no in