Advances in diagnosis and treatment of internal mammary lymph node of breast cancer / 中国肿瘤临床

ABSTRACT

Internal mammary lymph nodes (IMLN) constitutes approximately 25% of the lymph nodes of the breast. The status of IMLN is one of the prognostic factors in breast cancer patients and essential to regional staging and adjuvant treatment choice. Inter-nal mammary-sentinel lymph node biopsy (IM-SLNB) is deemed a minimally invasive technique for the effective evaluation of IMLN sta-tus and useful in individualized diagnosis and treatment. Injecting radiotracer into glands around the areola through a modified injec-tion technique and at increased injection dose results in the high identification rate of internal mammary sentinel lymph node (IMSLN). Thus, routine IM-SLNB is feasible in clinical practice. Internal mammary lymph drainage pattern is extensively studied, and the accuracy of IM-SLNB guided by modified injection technique is gaining preliminary validation. This review summarizes the progress in diagnosis and treatment of IMLN of breast cancer.