Surgical complications associated with sentinel lymph node biopsy: results from a prospective international cooperative group trial.

Background: American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z0010 is a prospective multicenter trial designed to evaluate the prognostic significance of micrometastases in the sentinel lymph nodes and bone marrow aspirates of women with early-stage breast cancer. Surgical complications associated with the sentinel lymph node biopsy surgical procedure are reported.

Methods: Eligible patients included women with clinical T1/2N0M0 breast cancer.

Training and mentoring surgeons in lymphatic mapping.

Intraoperative lymphatic mapping and selective lymphadenectomy for solid malignancies is a novel technique, having been introduced into surgical practice in the last 12 years. Dissemination of this technique among surgeons has followed a course similar to that found with the introduction of new laparoscopic techniques. A case series from a leading institution forms the core of the surgical literature for the new operation and is followed by additional case series, which offer technical refinements.