Biomarker Genes For Detection Of Lymph Node Metastases In Breast Cancer

As highlighted in a 2008 editorial, the ongoing difficulties with using molecular techniques to detect metastases in sentinel lymph nodes include 1) the uncertainty of the clinical significance of RT-PCRpositive but histologically and immunohistochemically negative sentinel lymph nodes; 2) the issue of possible false positives with a test as sensitive as RT-PCR; 3) the exact size of the metastasis cannot be determined because the tissue is digested in preparation for RT-PCR; and 4) the possibility that the assay is detecting small amounts of benign epithelial cells in the lymph node instead of metastatic carcinoma. (22) What is still not clear is the clinical utility of using molecular methods to detect sentinel lymph node metastases in making patient management decisions. <a id="