OBJECTIVE:

To describe the sociodemographic, clinical and pathological characteristics and results of the patent blue sentinel lymph node technique in early breast cancer surgery. And to report the experience in identifying the sentinel lymph node in early breast cancer using the 2.5% patent blue technique.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Retrospective and analytical study consisting of the evaluation of the clinical records of patients diagnosed with early breast cancer, without clinical or radiological suspicion of axillary involvement, seen between June 2022 and June 2023 at the Oncological Gynaecology Service of the UMAE Hospital de Ginecoobstetricia, Centro Médico Nacional de Occidente of the IMSS. The dye injection site was subdermal periareolar, and the identified lumps were examined in the transoperative period. The percentage of identification, false negative rates and negative predictive value of the method were analysed.

RESULTS:

Ninety-five sentinel node biopsies were analysed. Axillary lymphadenectomy was performed only in patients with sentinel lymph node metastasis confirmed at surgery and in those in whom no stained nodes were identified due to non-migration of the dye. The mean age of the patients was 57.1 years range 25 to 78 years. The tumour size was less than 3 cm. Sixty-four patients 67% underwent mastectomy, compared with 31 who underwent breast-conserving surgery 33%. Fifty-seven of the 95 patients were staged as AI; the most common molecular subtype was compatible with luminal A in 49%.

CONCLUSIONS:

Sentinel lymph node biopsy with patent blue is a rapid, simple, accurate and inexpensive technique for identifying axillary disease in early breast cancer. The results reported here represent an initial evaluation of the technique in our service.

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