Sentinel node

Some surgeons with patients with suspectedpure DCIS who have a lumpectomy don't feel it is necessary to do a Sentinel Node Biopsy (SNB). If no invasive cancer is found after surgery it potentially makes a SNB unnecessary, and if an invasive component is found the breast tissue remains so you can go back and perform SNB afterward. Generally a SNB is performed more often for suspected pure DCIS when mastectomy is the surgery chosen because performing SNB in the absence of breast tissue is much more problematic. As an FYI - I believe some have had difficulty with SNB who have had a recurrence in the same breast after a previous lumpectomy with radiation. It is thought that perhaps the radiation has complicated the lymphatic path through the breast tissue.