Biopsy
Sentinal Node Biopsy

Sentinel node biopsy involves the use of nuclear medicine techniques to locate the first (sentinel) lymph nodes in the drainage pathway of a cancerous tumor. Not all breast cancer patients are considered candidates. The procedure is used at the discretion of the surgeon to visually guide the biopsy. Though not conclusively proven, the theory is that if the biopsy is negative, further lymph node removal is not necessary.

Sentinel node biopsy procedures involve injection of a radioactive tracer in and around the tumor to highlight the first node for subsequent removal (biopsy) by a surgeon.