Synonyms
First echelon lymph node(s); Sentinel lymph node(s)
Description
Nodal status (i.e., whether the regional lymph nodes contain metastatic disease or not) is still regarded as an important prognostic factor in breast cancer and influences treatment decisions. Lymph nodes are not identical, and those, which are directly connected to the primary tumor site by means of their afferent lymphatic vessels, are the ones called sentinel nodes. The remaining lymph nodes of the same regional nodal basin are connected with each-other and/or the sentinel node(s), but do not have direct connection with the primary tumor site, and using a dichotomic categorization, they are labeled as nonsentinel nodes. The above definition implies that tumor cells which spread from the primary tumor to the regional lymph nodes as emboli via lymphatics reach the sentinel node(s) (first echelon nodes) first and nonsentinel nodes (second or further echelon nodes) only after. This explains why the sentinel nodes...
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Cserni, G. (2020). Sentinel Node. In: Sapino, A., Kulka, J. (eds) Breast Pathology. Encyclopedia of Pathology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62539-3_4692
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62539-3_4692
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