Is sentinel node biopsy always accurate?
In a small number of women, the sentinel node doesn’t have cancer cells, even though there are cancer cells in other lymph nodes in the armpit. This is called a ‘false-negative result’. A false-negative result sometimes occurs because lymphatic vessels running to the lymph nodes that have cancer cells in them are blocked by cancer cells. This means that the dye goes into other normal lymph nodes instead. To minimise the chance of a false-negative result, the surgeon may remove any enlarged nodes that are found at the time of surgery, even if they do not contain the dye.
