Breast Health: Lymphoscintigraphy

Lymphoscintigraphy

Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping

If there is any spread of your breast cancer to the lymph nodes, the sentinel node (the first node at the “gate”) will be positive for cancer. If the sentinel node, and the node after it, are benign, then often no axillary lymph node dissection is necessary. In order for your surgeon to examine the sentinel node in your axilla (armpit), the following procedure is performed.

You will be asked to arrive a few hours before your surgery to Suite 110 at the Breast Health Center located at 1921 Waldemere Street in the Waldemere Plaza Building.

The procedure may be performed by mammography or ultrasound guidance, depending on how best the cancerous area in your breast is visualized. The technologist will image the site to be injected and then the radiologist will cleanse the area and inject a radioactive- evaluated, labeled tracer near the tumor. The dye or tracer travels through the lymphatics. The first lymph node to pick up the tracer is the sentinel node. Then you will go from the Breast Health Center via wheelchair to the pre-op area with a dressing protecting the injection sites. From pre-op, you will go by stretcher to Nuclear Medicine for images of the breast and then to the operating room for your procedure.

Approximately 40 percent of women diagnosed with breast cancer have cancerous nodes. Node status is determined primarily in two ways, lymphoscintigraphy or (sentinel node mapping) and axillary node dissection. Lymphoscintigraphy requires removal of only a few select lymph nodes. The sentinel node (or nodes) are removed and sent to a pathologist for examination.

For more information about this procedure, ask your physician or call:
Breast Health Center: (941) 917-2636