RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: During the last decade sentinel lymph nodes biopsy has become an essential part of primary surgical treatment in a number of malignancies including breast cancer, melanoma and head-and-neck malignancies. Dye or radioactive substances are injected at the primary tumor site, followed by pre-operative and intra-operative mapping. During surgery only positive lymph nodes are being dissected instead of a complete dissection of the lymphatic basin. The advantages of sentinel lymph nodes dissection are reducing the side effects of extensive lymph nodes dissection, while maintaining high detection rates and sensitivity in identifying cases with lymphatic tumor spread. In the past years, the use of sentinel lymph nodes biopsy has also been incorporated in the treatment of gynecological malignancies. In vulvar cancer, it has been shown that sentinel lymph nodes biopsy is correlated with the same survival and recurrence rates as full groin lymph nodes dissection, while substantially lowering complications and especially morbid lymphedema. Preliminary experience in cervical cancer and carcinoma of the endometrium also displays the feasibility and liability of this method. Yet, there are still several controversies regarding the optimal detection method, site of injection and its oncological safety. In this article we present a review of the current literature on this evolving field.
