What are the benefits of a sentinel lymph node biopsy?
Determining if cancer has spread to other parts of the body is very important for treatment plans. Sentinel lymph node biopsy can do this without removing all regional lymph nodes. This is in contrast to axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in which all of the lymph nodes in the region are removed. Because removal of lymph nodes may impact the movement of fluids around the body and the immune response, the sentinel lymph node method decreases the risk for side effects, such as lymphedema.