By Konstantinos Ar. Maraveya
General Surgeon – Scientific Director of ANASSA Clinic
In recent years, sentinel lymph node biopsy has been one of the most important developments in Surgical Oncology. The sentinel lymph node is the first epithelial lymph node which accepts all cells and therefore also cancerous cells. In cases of malignant tumours they always pass and filter into this first lymph node.
There are certain types of cancer, such as malignant melanoma and breast cancer, which are characterised by what is known as lymphotropism, i.e. they have a greater ability to spread through the lymphatic vessels.
For example, the axillary lymph nodes in breast cancer are removed to see if the tumour has escaped from the breast causing lymphatic metastasis, which changes the staging, treatment strategy and ultimately the prognosis.
Previously, the surgeon was always forced to exclude all lymph nodes, because there was no way to distinguish whether they were affected by metastasis or not.
Guardian lymph node biopsy is a minimally invasive method that allows us to find out if there is even a small metastasis in the axilla and to stage the cancer without requiring lymph node cleansing. This method was launched in 1990 in America and is now a routine procedure in breast units around the world.
If the sentinel lymph node has metastasized from cancer cells then all the lymph nodes in the axilla should be surgically removed. But if it has not infiltrated then there is no need for lymph node clearance of the axilla, the surgery is less extensive and the recovery and quality of life of the patients is much better. With this method the patient can be spared a very serious operation, which often can have serious side effects, such as the formation of lymphedema or even some kind of upper limb dysfunction. The sentinel lymph node method should be applied to all patients who clinically do not have palpable lymph nodes.
At ANASSA, in the last two years we have now been able to offer this surgical treatment of the highest medical standard, giving the women who come to us the opportunity to stay in our city and be treated in the most scientifically perfect way possible.