A multicenter study of using carbon nanoparticles to show sentinel lymph nodes in early gastric cancer

Background Lymph node metastasis occurs in approximately 10 % of early gastric cancer. Preoperative or intra-operative identification of lymph node metastasis in early gastric cancer is crucial for surgical planning. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using carbon nanoparticles to show sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) in early gastric cancer.