Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2022;44(8):785-789
To assess the quality of recent meta-analyses reviewing the diagnostic utility of sentinel node biopsy in endometrial cancer.
With the MeSH terms endometrial neoplasms and sentinel lymph node biopsy, PubMed and Embase databases were searched on October 21, 2020, and again on November 10, 2021, with meta-analysis and publication date filters set to since 2015. The articles included were classified with the A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR 2) assessment tool.
The database searches found 17, 7 of which, after the screening, were selected for full review by the author, finally extracting six meta-analyzes for quality analysis. The rating with the AMSTAR 2 assessment tool found that overall confidence in their results was critically low.
This study found that the quality of recent meta-analyses on the utility of the staging of endometrial cancer with sentinel node biopsy, evaluated by the AMSTAR 2 assessment tool, is classified as critically low, and, therefore, these meta-analyses are not reliable in the summary of their studies.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2005;27(6):340-346
DOI 10.1590/S0100-72032005000600008
PURPOSE: a case-control study comparing two radiocolloids used in scintigraphy to map the sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) in breast cancer patients. METHODS: forty patients were prospectively enrolled between May 2002 and April 2004, after signing an informed consent form. In the present double-blind study, each patient was submitted twice to the same examination, a mammary scintigraphy, one with 99mTc-dextran 500 (dextran) and the other with 99mTc-phytate (phytate), on different days. A volume of 2 ml with 1-1.5 mCi of each radiopharmaceutical, in divided aliquots, was injected in the breast parenchyma in four points around in the tumor and the subcutaneous area superficial to the tumor. The image was obtained 2 h after the injection, using a gamma camera with high-resolution collimator. The lymph nodes were identified by anterior and lateral static scintigraphic images. Statistical analysis was done with the use of McNemar and Z tests. RESULTS: in the analysis of the 40 patients, we had 15 pairs with positive identical images, 4 pairs with negative images and 21 pairs with inconsistent images, either because one of them was negative, or because the SLN numbers were different. When the protocol was opened, we found 35 and 27 positive images and 5 and 13 negative images for dextran and phytate treatment groups, respectively. Among the negative images, 4 were shared by both groups. The McNemar test, used for the statistical analysis, showed p=0.026, odds ratio (OR) = 0.11 with 95% CI 0.01 < OR < 0.85. The accuracy, evaluated by the success ratio of the SLN mapping, was 67.5% for phytate and 87.5% for dextran, with p=0.032. Analysis of variance of the SLN number in lymphoscintigraphy images showed p=0.008. CONCLUSION: these results recommend the use of dextran instead of phytate for the SLN study of breast carcinoma by scintigraphy, when the same methodology is being used.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2003;25(9):655-659
DOI 10.1590/S0100-72032003000900006
PURPOSE: to assess the simultaneous approach of radioguided occult lesion localization and sentinel lymph node biopsy in women with breast cancer. METHOD: forty-five patients with nonpalpable breast cancer were enrolled in a prospective study. The employed radiocolloid was 99mTc-labelled dextran. The injection was performed peritumorally under sonographic or stereotactic guidance using a 18 gauge needle. Lymphoscintigraph images for the visualization of both the site of injection and sentinel lymph node were obtained in a conventional gamma-camera, with the ipsilateral arm positioned in a 90º angle. Excision biopsy of the tumor and sentinel lymph node were performed with a gamma-detecting probe. RESULTS: the procedure was always successful in permitting the localization of occult breast lesions. It was necessary to enlarge surgical margins in five cases. Concerning the sentinel lymph node we achieved localization in 93% of the cases. No complications were observed. CONCLUSION: the results seems to demonstrate that a combined radioguided occult lesion localization and sentinel lymph node biopsy using the same radiopharmaceutical represents a useful and practicable strategy in the management of early breast cancer.
Summary
Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetrícia. 2002;24(2):81-86
DOI 10.1590/S0100-72032002000200002
Purpose: to evaluate the predictive capacity of the sentinel lymph node (SLN) in relation to the axillary lymph node status in patients with initial invasive breast carcinoma submitted or not to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Method: a prospective study was performed in 112 patients divided into two groups. The first group comprised 70 patients who had not received previous chemotherapy (Group I) and the second consisted of 42 patients who were submitted to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in three cycles of AC (adriamycin + cyclophosphamide) (Group II). Regarding chemotherapy, we observed partial response >50% in 21 patients, being complete in three of them, and <50% in 19 patients; in two patients progression of the disease occurred. A peritumoral injection of 99mTc dextran was applied with the help of stereotaxy in 29 patients with nonpalpable tumors, 16 of Group I and 13 of Group II. The radioactive accumulation shown by scintigraphy guided the biopsy of the axillary SLN with the help of a probe. The anatomopathologic study of SLN was based initially on a single section. When the LSN was free, it was submitted to serial sections at 50 mum intervals, stained with HE. Results: SLN was identified in 108 patients. No identification has been obtained in four patients, all with nonpalpable lesions (3 patients of Group I and 1 of Group II). The method's accuracy in predicting the axillary lymph node status was 100% in patients who did not receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 93% in those to whom this kind of treatment was administered. This difference proved to be statistically significant. Conclusions: the present study allowed us to conclude that in all patients who did not receive previous chemotherapy treatment, the SLN study was effective in predicting the axillary lymph node status. The high rate of false-negative results in the group of patients submitted to neoadjuvant chemotherapy seems to invalidate the use of SLN study these patients.