Purpose: Assessment of our experience and validation of the sentinel lymph node biopsy technique in breast cancer stage T0-T2N0M0 surgery.
Methods: Identification and biopsy of the sentinel lymph node by the radio colloid method in a consecutive series of 205 patients undergoing surgery for breast cancer stage T0-T2N0M0 between October 1998 and January 2007, initially in association with a complete axillary lymph node dissection (learning curve), later in an elective way. Prospective recording of the data and analysis with an average follow-up of 50 months (3 to 102 months).
Results: Biopsy rate of the sentinel lymph node of 90%, false negative rate of the method 2.5%, axillary recurrence rate 0%.
Conclusion: We confirm in this series that the sentinel lymph node biopsy technique is a reliable approach in our experience for the evaluation of the axillary lymph node status in breast cancer stage T0-T2N0M0.