Introduction: Sentinel node biopsy is now established as the standard care for women with breast cancer. Its
accuracy has been validated through multiple clinical trials but with less morbidities than ALND such as pain,
restriction of arm movement and lymphedema.
Aim of work: To assess the efficacy of combined SLNB using patent blue dye and PLN sampling in the management
of nodal negative early breast cancer. We aimed to avoid the skip metastases phenomenon that occurs with SLN
biopsy and to avoid the morbidity associated with ALND.
Patients and methods: This prospective study was carried out on 50 females at the Breast Surgery Department
in Ain Shams University Hospitals and El Helal Health Insurance Hospital after approval of the ethical committee.
Results: In our study, by combining the SLN technique with PLN technique using patent blue dye alone i.e.
(without the radioisotope technique) we achieved high accuracy and less false negative rate by simple and cheap
method. These techniques when done by an experienced surgeon can be used confidently in patients with early
breast cancer.
Conclusion: We have found that combining PLN sampling with SLNB makes it possible to avoid ALND in a
considerable proportion of breast cancer