One of the main concerns in breast cancer is the spread of the cancer to other organs (metastasis). In these cases, sentinel lymph node scintigraphy – a diagnostic examination designed to determine lymph node involvement – is an imaging method offering superior possibilities for diagnosis and follow-up.
Once the nuclear medicine specialist has determined, using the mapping technique, whether the sentinel node is involved, all that remains for the surgeon is to remove it surgically.
Sentinel lymph node biopsy is performed by injecting a radioactive tracer into the area concerned. The tracer reaches the axillary region or the nearest sentinel node in about five to seven minutes. By removing these lymph nodes, we can assess the likelihood that tumour cells will metastasise. If no tumour cells are detected, the procedure is considered complete. Such a result sometimes indicates that it is not necessary to remove the remaining lymph nodes. Nevertheless, the discovery of cancer cells in the "sentinel" nodes often requires the removal of additional lymph nodes.
Kezban Berberoğlu
M.D.
Diagnostic Services – Pathology
Kezban Berberoğlu
M.D.
Diagnostic Services – Pathology
Education and career
• Trakya University Faculty of Medicine
• İstanbul University Faculty of Medicine
• Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA
Areas of expertise and medical interests
• Nuclear oncology
• Nuclear cardiology
• Member of the Turkish Society of Nuclear Medicine
Research and publications
• 2 international publications
• 12 national publications