How serious is cancer if it has spread to lymph nodes?
Usually the lymph nodes are removed if spread is thought to have happened; It’s not standard practice to remove all lymph nodes in all breast cancer patients For invasive cancer it’s recommended that some or all of the lymph nodes in the armpit be removed. On average there are between 20 and 30 lymph nodes in the armpit – some have more, some fewer. Between four and ten of them will usually be removed to check whether they are involved but this figure varies. Occasionally a surgeon may advise you that a patient doesn’t need to have any lymph nodes removed when the tumour is removed from the breast. Sentinel node biopsy, is a new way sometimes used to detect whether cancer has spread to the lymph nodes; it involves injecting a small amount of radioactive material and a dye that identifies the first – or ‘sentinel’ – node to receive lymph fluid from the tumour. If this sentinel node is clear it usually means that the other nodes are clear too. This technique is rapidly becoming the stand
