ABSTRACT
Sentinel lymph-node (SLN) biopsy represents an important and timely advance in accurate pathologic staging of breast cancer. Effective screening programs, most notably mammography, have led to the early detection of breast cancer and smaller average tumor sizes at diagnosis.1 Patients with small, invasive carcinomas who undergo complete axillary lymph-node dissection (ALND) with standard pathologic examination are likely to have negative lymph nodes. Sentinel lymph-node biopsy reliably determines the tumor status of the axilla, spares many patients the potential morbidity of ALND, and is well suited to detect early nodal metastases.
