Publications

@article{Barkur2022-pr,

title = {Intra-operative assessment of sentinel lymph nodes for breast 

 cancer surgery: An update},

author = {Surekha Barkur and Ioan Notingher and Emad Rakha},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-03-01},

journal = {Surg. Oncol.},

volume = {40},

number = {101678},

pages = {101678},

publisher = {Elsevier BV},

abstract = {Lymph node (LN) involvement is the strongest prognostic factor 

 in operable breast cancer (BC). Therefore, accurate assessment 

 of LN status is essential for management of BC patients. The 

 introduction of sentinel LN approach reduced the need for 

 extensive axillary surgery to achieve accurate staging. However, 

 positive sentinel LN as determined on postoperative histological 

 examination often leads to a second axillary operation to ensure 

 an accurate staging and that positive non-sentinel LNs are 

 removed. Although preoperative assessment of LN has improved 

 significantly, its accuracy remains insufficient to avoid 

 further axillary surgery and is not sufficient to predict the 

 status of the LN. Therefore, intraoperative evaluation of the 

 sentinel LN to determine the need for completing lymph node 

 dissection in case of metastasis can provide an important 

 approach to guide BC management decision making. This article 

 reviews the techniques available and under development for 

 intraoperative detection of sentinel LN metastasis in BC 

 surgery. The key features of each technique are described in 

 detail, emphasising the benefits offered by label-free optical 

 techniques: minimal sample preparation, high spatial resolution, 

 and immediate on-site implementation. Optical techniques have 

 the potential to provide a cost-effective and accurate 

 intraoperative platform for the assessment of SLN within the 

 operating theatre.},

keywords = {Breast cancer, Intra-operative assessment, Lymph nodes, Raman   spectroscopy},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}