Lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymphadenectomy was utilized to detect axillary lymph node metastases in patients 
with breast cancer. Aim of the study was to evaluate lymphatic mapping in identification of sentinel axillary lymph node in patients with breast cancer to ensure accurate staging. The study was done on 84 patients with a mean age of 51 years (29-73 years) between July 1995 and October 1999 at departments of Surgery, Mansoura University and johann Wolfgang Goethe Frankfrut University hospitals. It was the M.D Thesis of the first author. After general anesthesia, (2-5 ml) of Isosulfan blue vital dye was injected into the breast mass and at the surrounding axillary side and submitted to both histological examination and immunohistochemical staining using cytokeratin. The sentinel lymph node(s) accurately identified axillary node status in 60 of 68 patients (88.2%). Two of eight sentinel lymph nodes stained positive for metastases by immunohistochemical staining (25%). The total number of patients with axillary metastases (sentinel and non sentinel)was 30 (35.7%). Succesful (SN) identification was done in 27 patients with a false negative rate 6/27 ( 22.2% ). The sentinel / nonsentinel histology in agreement was 88.2%. On conclusion, intra-operative lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy is a highly accurate, minimally invasive, safe and cheap method for staging of patients with breast cancer favoring more conservative treatment