I am having a sentinel node biopsy. The first thing that will happen is that I will have the sentinel node dissection, since it is less invasive. If it tests clear (negative) for cancer cells, then none of nodes will be removed. If they are not clear (positive), then they will move on to an axillary lymph node dissection, which is where they take all the fatty tissue including the lymph nodes in the area, and send that to the pathologist. He then removes the lymph nodes from that tissue and evaluates it to determine how many have cancer and what the extent of the cancer is. This is considered the appropriate procedure for earlier stage cancers like mine. It covers level 1 and level 2, where level 1 is the lowest (includes the edge of the pectoralis minor muscles), and level 2 is mid level (includes the tissue under the pectoralis minor muscle). Level 3 is if it has metastasised to the muscle, and includes the tissue up to the neck.
If she has any sign of cancer cells in the lymph nodes, then level 1 and 2 is what she will have.
If she has this done, drains will be implanted and will stay in for 7-10 days. The drains will need to be emptied when they fill. When the lymph fluid collecting in the drains is less then 1 oz a day, the drains are ready to come out.
She has a small risk of lymphedema (5-10%) following surgery, but that risk increases with chemo and radiation to 25%.
These are the questions that Susie asked her doctor this afternoon in preparation for the surgery:
Q: How many sentinel node biopsies have you done?
A: A lot
Q: What percentage of the time have you found the sentinel node? (Average is 85-95% of the time)
A: 98% Because I use 2 techniques to find the sentinel node: 1) I inject a radioactive isotope, and use a radioactive probe during surgery to tell me where the material is, and 2) a blue dye is injected during the surgery and is visible as it travels to the sentinel node.
Q: What is your false negative rate? (Should be below 5%)
A: 5-7%
Q: When will I have the results?
A: Tuesday or Wednesday
The Oncologist will then do additional tests to figure out what stage she is in.
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» International Trial Of Novel Breast Cancer Drug
14/12/06 07:03 from Breast cancer blog from medicineworld.org
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A clinical trial of a new targeted breast cancer drug, led by
physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer
Center, has begun enrolling patients. The TEACH (Tykerb
Evaluation After CHemotherapy) trial will investigate ...
For useful content on screening for breast health, short-changed chemotherapy treatments and thermographic experience: check
the url is http://breast-cancer1.com
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