Sentinel Node Biopsy

Sentinel Node Biopsy - A biopsy of the sentinel lymph node (SLN). The sentinel lymph node is the first lymph node to which cancerous cells are likely to spread from the primary tumor location (before spreading to other lymph nodes). In a sentinel node biopsy, a radioactive substance and/or a dye are injected near a tumor to identify the sentinel lymph node(s). Then, the first (sentinel) lymph node(s) that pick up the dye are removed to check for the presence of cancer cells. Sentinel lymph node biopsies are useful for cancer diagnosis and staging. In addition, a sentinel node biopsy is sometimes preferred to standard lymph node dissection because it involves removing fewer lymph nodes. 

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