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Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

Test Overview

A sentinel lymph node biopsy, Opens dialog removes lymph node tissue to see if a known cancer has spread. This biopsy may be done instead of a bigger surgery called lymph node dissection.

The sentinel lymph node is the first node where cancer cells may move to after they have left the original cancer site and started to spread. For example, the sentinel node (SN) for breast cancer is normally one of the lymph nodes under the arm.

Your doctor injects a blue dye or radioactive tracer or both into the area around the original cancer site. The dye or tracer moves to the sentinel node that is close to the cancer site. Your doctor can see the dye or tracer with a special device. The lymph node can be taken out and looked at under a microscope at the time of the biopsy. If a sentinel node is positive for cancer cells, more surgery may be needed to remove more lymph nodes.

Other tests, such as a culture, genetic tests, or immunological tests, may be done on the lymph node sample.

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Current as of: July 31, 2024

Author: Ignite Healthwise, LLC Staff

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