Is there a role of sentinel lymph node biopsy in ductal carcinoma in situ?: analysis of 587 cases.

<span class="AbstractHeading">Summary</span><div class="AbstractSection"><div class=""><span class="AbstractSectionHeading"><a name="ASec1"></a>Background  </span>The role of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in patients with a core needle-biopsy diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) has been intensely debated. Core needle-biopsy has an inherent sampling error leading to histologic underestimation of invasive disease. If SLNB is not performed at the time of the definitive operative procedure, patients found to have an invasive cancer, will require a second operative procedure. The study was designed to determine when the risk of finding invasive disease on final pathology in patients with an initial diagnosis of DCIS was sufficiently high to justify the use of SLNB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]