Resumo

RODRIGUEZ, ARGIMIRO et al. Identificación del ganglio centinela en cáncer de colon con técnica de azul patente V.. Rev. venez. oncol. [online]. 2005, vol.17, n.4, pp.182-188. ISSN 0798-0582.

OBJECTIVES: Determine the feasibility of sentinel lymph node detection in colon cancer. The diagnostic accuracy of the procedure and its value as a staging tool is also evaluated. METHODS: We included in this series patients with diagnosis of colon cancer made by endoscopy and biopsy. Previous abdominal surgery or radiochemotherapy were considered exclusion criteria. Patent blue dye was injected around the tumor in the subserosa. Surgery was continued in the usual manner. Intraoperatively or after the completion of the surgical procedure (ex-vivo) the sentinel node was identified and sent separately for histopathological analysis. Immunohistochemistry was performed in negative sentinel lymph nodes evaluated with routine hematoxilin-eosin staining. RESULTS: 16 patients with colon cancer were included in this series. Sentinel lymph nodes were identified in 62.5 % of cases. There was a 20 % false negative rate. All sentinel lymph nodes negative with hematoxilin-eosin were negative with immunohistochemical studies. No statistically significant correlation was found between sentinel lymph node identification and tumor characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Sentinel lymph node identification is a feasible procedure in colon cancer. It can be performed in all cases regardless of tumor location, size or histologic grade. Identification rates are not related to previous carcino embryonic antigen values, vascular or lymphatic embolism. Larger series are required to validate the procedure.

Palavras-chave : Cancer; colon; diagnoses; stages; sentinel lymph node.