Sentinel Node Mapping for Breast Cancer: Current Situation

Table 1

Recommendations for SLN biopsy.

Clinical scenario	Indication of sentinel node biopsy
T1 or T2 tumours	Established
Older age	Established
Obesity	Established
Before preoperative systemic therapy	Established
Male breast cancer	Established
DCIS with mastectomy	Established
Internal mammary chain	Established but controversial
DCIS without mastectomy	Controversial, except for DCIS with suspected or proven microinvasion
Pregnancy	Controversial
Suspicious, palpable axillary nodes	Controversial
T3 or T4 tumours	Controversial
Multicentric or multifocal tumours	Controversial
Prior diagnostic or excisional breast biopsy	Controversial
Prior axillary surgery	Controversial
Prior non-oncologic breast surgery	Controversial
After preoperative systemic therapy	Controversial
Inflammatory breast cancer	Not recommended

DCIS: ductal carcinoma in situ.
Controversial indications suggest that the indication is not universally accepted or the evidence behind the practice is limited.