BMC Cancer (Oct 2019)

Preliminary study of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in combination with blue dye vs. indocyanine green fluorescence, in combination with blue dye for sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer

  • Yidong Zhou,
  • Yan Li,
  • Feng Mao,
  • Jing Zhang,
  • Qingli Zhu,
  • Songjie Shen,
  • Yan Lin,
  • Xiaohui Zhang,
  • He Liu,
  • Mengsu Xiao,
  • Yuxin Jiang,
  • Qiang Sun

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-019-6165-4
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 19, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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Abstract Background This preliminary study aimed to examine the feasibility of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) vs. indocyanine green fluorescence (ICG), combined with blue dye in patients with breast cancer. Methods This was a retrospective study of consecutive female patients with invasive stage I-III (based on pre-operative physical examination and imaging) primary breast cancer at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital between 01/2013 and 01/2015 who underwent preoperative SLNB by ICG + blue dye or CEUS + blue dye. The numbers of detected SLNs, detection rates, and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were compared between the two groups. Results A total of 443 patients were included. The detection rates of SLNs in the CEUS + blue dye and ICG + blue dye groups were 98.4 and 98.1%, respectively (P = 0.814). The average numbers of SLNs detected per patient showed no significant difference between the two groups (3.06 ± 1.33 and 3.12 ± 1.31 in the CEUS + blue dye and ICG + blue dye groups, respectively; P = 0.659). After a median follow-up of 46 months, five patients in the CEUS + blue dye group and 15 in the ICG + blue dye group had recurrence. RFS rates showed no significant difference (P = 0.55). Conclusion This preliminary study suggests that CEUS + blue dye and ICG + blue dye are both feasible for SLN detection in breast cancer.

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