What is a Sentinel Node or Blue Node procedure?
This is a new procedure that may replace lymph node removal in patients who have a low risk of having any positive (cancer-bearing) lymph nodes. A radioactive or blue dye is injected around the tumor (or tumor site if the tumor has already been removed for biopsy). The dye is traced to the first node (sentinel node) closest to the tumor site, that node is removed and examined for signs of cancer cells. If the sentinel node is free of cancer cells it is very likely that the rest of the nodes are also free of cancer. Therefore the patient may not need a traditional lymph node removal.
