The observation of sentinel lymph node biopsy with methylene blue in early breast cancer

Objective To explore the accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsy(SLNB) with methylene blue in determining the extent of axillary lymph node(LN) dissection for cN0M0 breast cancer patients.Methods One ml of 1% methylene blue was injected subcantaneously at each of the 4 sites around the tumor or in the walls of the biopsy wound.Biopsy was carried out in 120 patients undergoing SLNB 5-10 minutes after injection of the dye;according to the results of the frozen section,modified axillary LN dissection or breast-conserving operation was decided upon.Results SLN was identified in 89 patients,the successful detection rate was 72.50%(87/120),the specificity was 100%,and the false-positive was 0% and the false-negative was 1.5%,the accuracy being 98.85%.Conclusions The SLN status can generally represent the condition of the axillary metastasis.SLNB is useful to determine whether modified axillary LN dissection in or breast-conserving operation should be carried out.