Detection of sentinel lymph nodes with lymphazurin in cervical, uterine, and vulvar malignancies

Background. Identification of sentinel lymph nodes may allow prediction of metastatic disease in cancer patients. We did a prospective study to determine whether lymphazurin dye could identify sentinel lymph nodes in patients with cervical, uterine, and vulvar cancer. Methods. In 33 patients having surgery for either uterine, cervical, or vulvar carcinoma, lymphazurin dye was injected into die respective organs before the tumor and node dissection began. Sentinel lymph nodes were identified and dissected in situ. Results. The identification rate of sentinel lymph nodes was 0/8 (0%) for uterine cancer patients, 2/13 (15.4%) for cervical cancer patients, and 9/12 for vulvar cancer patients (75%). Conclusions. In a limited number of patients, lymphazurin dye may be useful in identifying or assessing the sentinel nodes draining vulvar and cervical cancers. The role of this procedure in treatment planning for patients with gynecologic malignancies is yet to be determined.