ABSTRACT
SLN biopsy, which may be associated with less morbidity and lower costs (9-11). Axillary ultrasound in combination with percutaneous node biopsy for tissue acquisition is yielding useful preoperative staging information on regional nodes (12). SLN biopsy has been embraced around the world as a standard of care for breast cancer patients and ideally incorporates dual localization techniques using both blue dye and radioisotopic localization. Although SLN biopsy is now the dominant method for staging the axilla in clinically nodenegative patients, technical aspects mandate standardization and confi rmation is awaited that longer-term survival is not impaired as a consequence of either withholding systemic therapies of failing to remove non-sentinel nodes in the context of false negativity.
