Many more women suitable for sentinel node biopsies. (Patient Age, Tumor Type not an Issue).

ORLANDO, FLA. -- Sentinel node biopsies are appropriate for a much larger pool of breast cancer patients than previously thought, arid testing biopsied tissue for a newly identified breast cancer biomarker appears to substantially reduce the false-negative rate.

Those conclusions emerged from two studies reported at a meeting of the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program.

Currently, older women and those who have advanced breast disease, multiple tumors, or past breast surgery are not considered good candidates for sentinel node biopsy, because these patients exhibit a high rate of false-negative results.

However, Dr. Lorraine Tafra said that her study of 1,236 women who underwent breast cancer biopsy showed that surgeon inexperience with the procedure and a low number of sentinel nodes obtained were the factors most associated with high false-negative rates.

The data showed no association between a false-negative reading and patient age, tumor type or location, multiple vs. single cancer sites in the breast, or preoperative chemotherapy.

"This makes thousands of women eligible for sentinel node biopsies who had previously been excluded," Dr. Tafra, director of the Breast Center at the Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Md., said in an interview "In only 1% of cases will the sentinel nodes not accurately reflect the other lymph nodes, and it's clear that for the vast majority of patients, sentinel node biopsies will be both more accurate and less traumatic than ...