A prospective evaluation of positron emission tomography scanning, sentinel lymph node biopsy, and standard axillary dissection for axillary staging in patients with early stage breast cancer.

Background: Positron emission tomography (PET) is a noninvasive imaging modality that can detect malignant lymph nodes. This study determined the sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, and likelihood ratios of PET scanning compared with standard axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in staging the axilla in women with early stage breast cancer.

Methods: Women with clinical stage I or II breast cancer had whole body PET scanning before ALND and SLNB, in a prospective, blinded protocol.