Sentinel lymph node biopsy has become a well-established and commonplace prac-tice in many oncologic disease sites as a means to stage the regional lymphatics, avoid unnec-essary surgery and decrease patient morbidity...Sentinel lymph node biopsy has become a well-established and commonplace prac-tice in many oncologic disease sites as a means to stage the regional lymphatics, avoid unnec-essary surgery and decrease patient morbidity. In the head and neck, its role is well established for cutaneous melanoma with proven fidelity and survival benefit. Its role in use for other sites such as oral cavity carcinoma continues to develop with promising results from several recent trials. Although not widely adopted, the potential benefits of sentinel lymph node biopsy in the management of oral cavity carcinoma are apparent. Refinements in tech-nology and protocols including development of novel radiopharmaceutical tracers, routine incorporation of detailed anatomic imaging, increasing surgeon experience and development of new intraoperative identification aids will likely lead to improvements in the use and accu-racy of this technique. Copyright a 2016 Chinese Medical Association. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).展开更多
文摘Sentinel lymph node biopsy has become a well-established and commonplace prac-tice in many oncologic disease sites as a means to stage the regional lymphatics, avoid unnec-essary surgery and decrease patient morbidity. In the head and neck, its role is well established for cutaneous melanoma with proven fidelity and survival benefit. Its role in use for other sites such as oral cavity carcinoma continues to develop with promising results from several recent trials. Although not widely adopted, the potential benefits of sentinel lymph node biopsy in the management of oral cavity carcinoma are apparent. Refinements in tech-nology and protocols including development of novel radiopharmaceutical tracers, routine incorporation of detailed anatomic imaging, increasing surgeon experience and development of new intraoperative identification aids will likely lead to improvements in the use and accu-racy of this technique. Copyright a 2016 Chinese Medical Association. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
