The purpose of the study is to determine if it is possible to identify and perform a needle biopsy of the sentinel lymph node. The investigators hope to identify breast cancer cells in the lymph nodes under the arm without making an operation necessary. The rationale for this study is that for patients without enlarged lymph nodes under the arm, sentinel lymph node biopsy is the standard way of determining if breast cancer has spread to the lymph nodes under the arm. While the complications from a sentinel lymph node dissection are less than that of a complete axillary lymph node dissection, sentinel lymph node dissection still carries small risks of arm swelling, decreased movement, fluid collections, nerve injury, and pain. Furthermore, the majority of sentinel lymph nodes do not contain cancer. The investigators hope to develop a method to find cancer in the axillary lymph nodes and avoid the complications of an operation.
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Accuracy of axillary ultrasound guided percutaneous needle biopsy of sentinel node
Timeframe: 2 years