Sentinel Node Biopsy

Mr Dimitri Hadjiminas has had a special interest in patient selection for axillary clearance since his training days as a Registrar. Back in 1994 he published on the “four-node” sampling technique combined with intra-operative assessment of the lymph nodes 1.

He was among the first to adopt and develop sentinel node biopsy in London, regularly performing the technique since January 1998. Further publications comparing four-node sampling with sentinel node biopsy have helped define the role of each individual technique in modern breast cancer surgery 2,3,4,5.

His own technique for sentinel node biopsy has been published3 and he believes that the combined blue-dye and isotope technique delivers best results in breast cancer patients.

1. Intraoperative assessment of nodal status in selecting patients with breast cancer for axillary clearance. Br J Surg. 1994;81:1615-6

2. Sentinel node biopsy may have little to offer four-node samplers; results of a prospective comparison study. Eur J Cancer. 2001;37:1076-80

3. Sentinel node biopsy can safely replace four-node sampling in staging early breast cancer. Eur J Surg Oncol. 2005;31(2):122-27

4. Is the presence of small volume disease in the sentinel node an indication for axillary clearance? Breast; 22(1):70-73, 2013

5. Sentinel lymph node biopsy after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy: are the current false negative rates acceptable. Breast; 24(4):318-20, 2015