It is estimated that about 75 per cent of women experience numbness in the arm, caused by nerve damage during surgery, after this procedure. Mr John Collins, the head of the breast unit at the Royal Women's and the Royal Melbourne Hospitals, said the sentinel node biopsy procedure was originally developed by surgical teams around the world to treat skin melanomas. It was adapted to breast surgery in the mid-1990s and is now being tested at the Royal Melbourne, St Vincent's and other Melbourne hospitals, he said. Doctors believe the procedure will be particularly suitable for women between the ages of 45 and 65 identified with small cancers. In the procedure, colored dye or a radioactive isotope is injected into the woman's breast near the tumor.
Doctors then trace where the dye flows to see which lymph node it reaches first.
This lymph node is regarded as a sentry, or gatekeeper to the region. The lymph node is then removed and tested by pathologists for traces of cancer. Mr Collins said that eventually 600 to 800 Victorian women each year might benefit from the new procedure. Professor Sally Redman, director of the National Breast Cancer Centre, said the technique was promising but needed more trials. Any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.