Part II - Dealing with the Initial Diagnosis of Cancer d. The Importance of Sentinel Node biopsy for Determining Metastasis
Once cancer has been confirmed, the procedure for determining if it has spread, or metastasized, is to check the lymph nodes in the area of the tumor for the presence of cancer cells.If cancer is discovered during exploratory surgery, the decision on the extent of lymph node excision is at the discretion of the surgical physician.However, in the case of breast cancer for example, where there either a needle biopsy or laparoscopic surgery has determined a malignancy, a “sentinel node” biopsy is the preferable option for determining any metastasis.
A “sentinel node” biopsy involves injecting a dye into the area where the tumor was/is present and waiting for a short period to see which lymph nodes the dye travels to.Removing just those lymph nodes will give a high degree of certainty if the cancer has metastasized.The procedure of taking a considerably larger number of lymph nodes without using the “sentinel node” approach includes the risk of developing lymphodema, and in that case it could result in the cancer patient having to wear an elastic sleeve on the arm to avoid swelling and possibly avoid air travel.