PhD Defence Elisabeth Reinilids Maria van Haaren

Keywords: Sentinel lymph node biopsy, breast cancer, magnetic tracer
 

"Technical aspects, implications, and innovations of the sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer"

Van Haaren studied the technical improvements of the sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer. The sentinel lymph node biopsy shows whether the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes. This information is meaningful, as the outcome aids the decision on further treatment strategies. 

A simplified protocol with fewer lymphoscintigraphies has proven to be reliable. The new one-step nucleic acid amplification, the OSNA- technique, detecting lymph node metastases, is more accurate than the traditional method but does not lead to overtreatment. This technique is also useful assessing the risks on radiation therapy after removal of the breast and reconstruction. 

Van Haaren also investigated an alternative to the radioactive tracer to locate the sentinel lymph nodes. The radioactive tracer is replaced by a magnetic tracer making the procedure safer and simpler. The results with this new procedure are equivalent. 

The magnetic tracer interferes with images of the MRI of the breast. A contrast-enhanced mammography has proven to be a reliable alternative to MRI. 

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