Detection and prognostic impact of micrometastasis in colorectal cancer.

Review of literature was performed on studies with prognostic impact of micrometastasis in colorectal cancer. Among 16 studies included, micrometastasis was detected in 26.5% of patients.

Nodal positivity in breast cancer correlated with the number of lesions detected by magnetic resonance imaging versus mammogram.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in breast cancer can detect more than 15% additional lesions than mammography. We investigated lymph node metastases rates in patients with multifocal or multicentric disease detected by MRI compared with patients with a single lesion detected by mammography and magnetic resonance imaging.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of breast cancer patients undergoing MRI and mammography was performed.

Comparison of nodal positivity between SLNM vs conventional surgery in colon cancer patients with <12 and ≥12 lymph nodes harvested.

Background: Examination of ≥12 lymph nodes (LNs) ensures accurate staging in colon cancer. The aim of this study was to compare nodal positivity between sentinel LN mapping (SLNM) and conventional surgery in patients with <12 and ≥12 LNs harvested.

Methods: From 1993 to 2008, 407 and 380 patients with colon cancer underwent SLNM and conventional surgery, respectively.

Ultrastaging of sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) vs. non-SLNs in colorectal cancer--do we need both?

Background: The aim of this study to analyze whether ultrastaging of initially negative nonsentinel lymph nodes (non-SLNs) would increase nodal positivity in colon cancer and rectal cancer.

Methods: After SLN mapping (SLNM), SLNs were ultrastaged by 4 hematoxylin and eosin and 1 immunohistochemistry sections. A blinded pathologist reexamined initially negative non-SLNs by 3 additional hematoxylin and eosin and 1 immunohistochemistry sections.

A prospective trial comparing 1% lymphazurin vs 1% methylene blue in sentinel lymph node mapping of gastrointestinal tumors.

Background: Methylene blue (M), as a dye in sentinel lymph node mapping (SLNM), has been introduced as an alternative to lymphazurin (L) after the recent shortage of L. M has been evaluated in breast cancer in multiple studies with favorable results. Our study compares L with M in the SLNM of gastrointestinal (GI) tumors.

Sentinel node biopsy for the individualization of surgical strategy for cure of early-stage colon cancer.

Introduction: The requirement for nodal analysis currently confounds the oncological propriety of focused purely endoscopic resection for early-stage colon cancer and complicates the evolution of innovative alternatives such as natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) and its hybrids. Adjunctive sentinel node biopsy (SNB) deserves consideration as a means of addressing this shortfall.

Methods: Data from two prospectively maintained databases established for multicentric studies of SNB in colon cancer that employed similar methodologies were pooled to establish technique potency selectively in T1/T2 disease (both overall and under optimized conditions) and to project potential clinical impact.