TY - JOUR T1 - THe selective use of sentinel node biopsy in ductal carcinoma in situ AU - Bleicher RJ, Giuliano AE Y1 - 2003/05/01 N1 - 10.1001/archsurg.138.5.489 JO - Archives of Surgery SP - 489 EP - 489 VL - 138 IS - 5 N2 - By definition, DCIS cannot spread; it is not an invasive malignancy. Any evidence of breast epithelium in a lymph node from a patient with this disease represents either an inaccurate diagnosis or perhaps displacement of epithelial cells by tumor manipulation, such as a preoperative needle biopsy. If the cells are not displaced epithelium, but rather metastatic breast cancer, then the diagnosis of DCIS is not possible. Most likely, a sampling error has occurred, resulting in underdiagnosis. This is understandable because the pathologist can, in practice, only examine a small portion of the DCIS during routine histopathologic assessment. Although some authors advocate routine sentinel node biopsy to detect underdiagnosis, this is not prudent for patients who have had their previous tumor completely excised because of the low risk of underdiagnosis and the necessity of a second operation. SN - 0004-0010 M3 - doi: 10.1001/archsurg.138.5.489 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.138.5.489 ER -