Sentinel node dissection for prophlactic mastectomy?

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lemonadehk
lemonadehk Member Posts: 106
edited January 2016 in Genetic Testing

Hi all, I was diagnosed with IDC in my right breast last January. Had mastectomy and anxillary lymph node dissection. Later on I was tested positives for BRCA2. So I decided to have prophlactic mastectomy on the left side to be safe. The surgery will be next week.

My surgeon suggested that I consider sentinel node dissection. She said there is a small possibility of false negative for MRI and mammogram imaging tests. If it turns out that there is cancer, then I would need an anxillary dissection. And since I had anxillary dissection on my right already, it would not be good if I have to have anxillary dissection on the left as well.


Has anyone had prophylactic mastectomy? Did you have sentinel node dissection? I would appreciate any thoughts/input.

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  • Jelson
    Jelson Member Posts: 1,535
    edited January 2016

    would the risk of radiation from the SNB be that great considering the affected tissue will be removed via the mastectomy?- just a thought, I am sorry you are faced with these decisions. take care and I hope all goes well.

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  • LisaAlissa
    LisaAlissa Member Posts: 1,092
    edited January 2016

    There was a thread recently that discussed this. Someone noted that Jennifer Lopez(?) had the dye/radioactive tracer injected, but they just placed a clip to mark the sentinel node. Then if something was found in the pathological review of the (prophylactically) removed breast, they could go back and remove the (marked) sentinel node. Seemed like an elegant idea and a nice way to avoid the lymphedema risk associated with a SNB, if the SNB isn't really needed.

    LisaAlissa

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  • lemonadehk
    lemonadehk Member Posts: 106
    edited January 2016

    Thank you, Jelson, sorry that I was wrong about the radiation dosage. Actually it's even safe for pregnant women.

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  • lemonadehk
    lemonadehk Member Posts: 106
    edited January 2016

    Thank you LisaAlissa for the idea!

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  • LisaAlissa
    LisaAlissa Member Posts: 1,092
    edited January 2016

    You're welcome! (I'm not sure about the celeb involved...maybe Angelina Jolie?--instead of Jennifer Lopez? Whoever it was was BRCA positive and had prophylactic surgery.)

    LisaAlissa

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  • Mominator
    Mominator Member Posts: 1,575
    edited January 2016

    new_me, one of the ladies on the November 2015 Surgeries thread, had sentinel node biopsy with her prophylactic mastectomy. She's BRCA with significant cancer in her family. You can read her posts from there, or contact her directly through the member page.

    Did you know that in approximately 10% or all prophylactic mastectomies hidden (occult) cancer is found? Some surgeons do SNB, others inject the dye and only do SNB if there's something positive found in the Mx.

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