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Abstract

Involvement of axillary nodes in breast cancer is the major prognostic factor and axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is the gold standard methodology. However, it is associated with considerably high morbidity like lymphedema and impaired functionality of ipsilateral arm. To address this issue, a less invasive sentinel node imaging and biopsy technique has been introduced and over the last two decades it has become standard of care in clinical and radiological negative axilla in breast cancer. In this review we will discuss historical background, breast lymphatics, techniques to detect nodes, strategies based on histopathological results and future trends for less invasive but more precise axillary nodal staging.Key words: carcinoma breast, sentinel node biopsy, radiocolloid, blue dye, axillary reverse mapping