Molecular characterization of breast tumor cells in sentinel lymph nodes

Background The sentinel lymph node (SLN) is the first node in the axilla to harbor malignant cells in breast tumors with metastasis, and its positivity is an indication for axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). The accurate evaluation of the SLN, to identify even the smallest metastatic foci is essential prior to complete ALND. We propose to characterize the tumor cells present at the SLN using global genomic approaches to identify DNA copy number changes.