Sentinel node mapping in gastric cancer

Abstract

This article is a review of literature of what we know in the field of sentinel node mapping in gastric cancer.

The current status of lymphatic mapping and sentinel node (SN) biopsy in the treatment of patients with gastric carcinoma is a matter of intense discussion.

One of the most simplest and not expensive technique is intraoperative peri-tumoral subserosal injection of the blue dye and real time observation.

An alternative method is radioquided detection with the use of 99 m Technetum fin colloid.

The third method is technique described by Wong.

Identification of SN in patients with gastric cancer may lead to modification of the status of the disease in the pTNM system, which can help in better qualification for adjuvant treatment. Intensive studies are needed to solve some burning problems concerning this subject and at present it is still too early to recommended one of these above techniques in routine clinical practice.