![]() ![]() It is usually done at the same time as surgery to remove the primary tumour. A nuclear medicine doctor often uses a special imaging technique (lymphoscintigraphy) to take a picture and find the sentinel lymph node (or nodes).Īn SLNB is usually done under general anesthetic in a hospital operating room as an outpatient (you will not stay overnight). This radioactive substance is absorbed by the lymph vessels and moves to the lymph nodes. You will have an injection of a radioactive substance (radiotracer) into an area close to the tumour or where the tumour was removed. On the day before or the same day as the SLNB, you will go to the nuclear medicine department of a hospital. ![]() Researchers continue to study how an SLNB affects a prognosis and survival compared to other diagnostic tests or surgeries. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, find and treat cancer. It may be offered for other types of cancer, sometimes through a clinical trial. It also reduces the risk of swelling from the buildup of lymph fluid when lymph nodes are removed, damaged or blocked (lymphedema).Īn SLNB is mainly used for breast cancers and melanoma skin cancers. ![]() An SLNB is not usually done if the doctor can feel an enlarged lymph node or if tests show that the cancer has already spread to lymph nodes.Īn SLNB is safer and has fewer side effects than removing all the lymph nodes in a specific area of the body (called a complete or therapeutic lymph node dissection). This helps your doctor stage the cancer, plan treatment and determine a prognosis. There are groups of lymph nodes under the arms and in the neck, chest, abdomen and groin.Īn SLNB is used to find out if cancer has spread to lymph nodes near where the cancer started. Many types of cancer can spread through the lymphatic system to the lymph nodes. ![]()
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