What are lymph nodes and what do they have to do with breast cancer?
Lymph nodes are part of the system that helps protect the body against infection. • The first lymph node that filters fluid from the breast is called the “sentinel node” because that is where breast cancer cells are likely to spread first. • During a lumpectomy or mastectomy to remove a breast tumor, surgeons commonly remove the sentinel node for examination under a microscope. • Sometimes the sentinel node is examined immediately and if tumor cells are found, additional lymph nodes are removed. • A more extensive microscopic examination, requiring one to two days for results, is almost always performed. If tumor cells are only found with the later microscopic examination, the patient may require a second surgery to remove the remaining lymph nodes. “The GeneSearch BLN Assay offers a new approach to sentinel node testing,” said Daniel Schultz, M.D., director of the FDA?s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “Results of this rapid test are available while patients are on the oper
Lymph nodes are part of the system that helps protect the body against infection. • The first lymph node that filters fluid from the breast is called the “sentinel node” because that is where breast cancer cells are likely to spread first. • During a lumpectomy or mastectomy to remove a breast tumor, surgeons commonly remove the sentinel node for examination under a microscope. • Sometimes the sentinel node is examined immediately and if tumor cells are found, additional lymph nodes are removed. • A more extensive microscopic examination, requiring one to two days for results, is almost always performed. If tumor cells are only found with the later microscopic examination, the patient may require a second surgery to remove the remaining lymph nodes. “The GeneSearch BLN Assay offers a new approach to sentinel node testing,” said Daniel Schultz, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “Results of this rapid test are available while patients are on the oper
