Sentinel lymph node biopsy is routinely performed during breast cancer surgery. This is the analysis of the first lymph node in the underarm to check if cancer has spread or not. In some breast cancer units, it may take up to 4 weeks to process the sentinel node in the laboratory. This wait can be extremely anxiety-provoking for patients. If the node result is positive, the patient may require a further operation to remove all the remaining lymph nodes from the underarm.

At the Arden Breast Clinic, we strive to implement the latest technology and research into our practice and have adopted the OSNA (one-step nucleic acid amplification) system. It enables the sentinel lymph node to be rapidly analysed (approximately 40 minutes) during the primary surgery. If the result is returned as positive, we will proceed to remove the remaining lymph nodes in the underarm during the same operation, saving the patient from a potential second operation.

For more information, contact us at info@ardenbreastclinic.com