Preliminary study of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in combination with blue dye vs. indocyanine green fluorescence, in combination with blue dye for sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer

• Main Authors: Yidong Zhou, Yan Li, Feng Mao, Jing Zhang, Qingli Zhu, Songjie Shen, Yan Lin, Xiaohui Zhang, He Liu, Mengsu Xiao, Yuxin Jiang, Qiang Sun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2019-10-01
• Series: BMC Cancer
• Subjects: Breast cancer; Sentinel lymph node; Biopsy; Contrast-enhanced ultrasound; Indocyanine green fluorescence
• Online Access: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12885-019-6165-4

Abstract Background This preliminary study aimed to examine the feasibility of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) using contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) vs. indocyanine green fluorescence (ICG), combined with blue dye in patients with breast cancer. Methods This was a retrospective study of consecutive female patients with invasive stage I-III (based on pre-operative physical examination and imaging) primary breast cancer at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital between 01/2013 and 01/2015 who underwent preoperative SLNB by ICG + blue dye or CEUS + blue dye. The numbers of detected SLNs, detection rates, and recurrence-free survival (RFS) rates were compared between the two groups. Results A total of 443 patients were included. The detection rates of SLNs in the CEUS + blue dye and ICG + blue dye groups were 98.4 and 98.1%, respectively (P = 0.814). The average numbers of SLNs detected per patient showed no significant difference between the two groups (3.06 ± 1.33 and 3.12 ± 1.31 in the CEUS + blue dye and ICG + blue dye groups, respectively; P = 0.659). After a median follow-up of 46 months, five patients in the CEUS + blue dye group and 15 in the ICG + blue dye group had recurrence. RFS rates showed no significant difference (P = 0.55). Conclusion This preliminary study suggests that CEUS + blue dye and ICG + blue dye are both feasible for SLN detection in breast cancer.