- On the occasion of World Cancer Day, the health group values the multidisciplinary team of its Breast Area, led by Dr. Julia Camps, the cutting-edge technology and the personalized treatment that it offers in its hospitals for the detection and treatment of breast cancer
- The molecular technique used for sentinel node diagnosis in the Ribera group makes it easier for professionals to make surgical and therapeutic decisions on the armpit in the same surgical act as that of the breast
El Breast Area of the Ribera healthcare group performs intraoperative diagnosis of the sentinel node for breast cancer with a molecular procedure based on the identification of the specific messenger RNA of the tumor epithelial cell. "We know that minimal tumor loads, which we recognize as isolated tumor cells, have a negative impact on the prognosis of the disease in the absence of treatment, especially if these cells persist after primary systemic therapy (PST)", explains Dr. Laia Bernet, coordinator of Pathology of the Breast Area. Therefore, she adds, "the diagnosis of the sentinel node must be as accurate, rapid and precise as possible."
Dr. Laia Bernet assures that selective sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) "is the procedure of choice for axillary staging of breast carcinoma, and makes it possible to select a group of patients in whom axillary lymphadenectomy, that is, the evaluation of all lymph nodes in the armpit, does not provide any additional benefit. Intraoperative diagnosis "facilitates, therefore, therapeutic decision-making on the armpit in the same surgical act as that of the breast."
Each year around 35.000 new cases of breast cancer are detected. On the occasion of World Cancer Day, which is celebrated tomorrow, February 4, the Ribera health group values the prestige and innovation of the multidisciplinary team in its Breast Area, led by Dr. Julia Camps, as well as the state-of-the-art technology and personalized treatment for the detection and clinical and surgical approach of this pathology in its university students of Torrejon yVinalopo and in Ribera Povisa. will be added soon Ribera Polusa y Riverside Juan Cardona, as well as the rest of the health centers that the health group has in Spain.
Each patient also receives close and human treatment, with a nurse manager for each case and psycho-oncologists, breast reconstruction and nipple tattooing, among other services.
There are two basic methods of studying the sentinel node: histological and molecular. “It is recommended to study the node in its entirety in order to avoid location biases”, assures Dr. Bernet. However, as explained by Ribera's Breast Area Pathology coordinator, "the only technique that currently allows the study of the entire sentinel node is a molecular technique known as One Step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA)", and therefore Therefore, it is the method considered to be of choice for the pathological study of the sentinel node.
And Dr. Bernet delves into the reason for this method. “It is a molecular procedure based on the identification of the specific messenger RNA of the tumor epithelial cell, specifically the mRNA of cytokeratin 19, highly standardized and reproducible, not dependent on the observer and that allows the study of the ganglion in its entirety without loss of data. fabric," he says. To which she adds that this procedure also calculates the total tumor burden (CTT) automatically. “Recent studies have made it possible to define the cut-off point with prognostic value of the CTT. It is a standardized diagnostic method that does not depend on the observer, is reproducible and precise, and minimizes the possibility of false negatives”, explains Dr. Bernet.
The alternative study method, the histological method, is based, as explained by the specialist from the Ribera group, on the microscopic study of the sentinel node, "it has two small limitations due to causes inherent to the procedure: a certain loss of tissue, inevitably associated with the cutting of the sample, so it cannot be studied in its entirety; and certain subjectivity in the pathologist's criteria”. However, she qualifies, "the intraoperative histopathological study is acceptable, using frozen or paraffin sections, when OSNA molecular analysis is not possible, depending on the indications in each specific case and the possibilities of each service."
Dr. Bernet concludes by assuring that "despite the fact that the indications for the study of the sentinel node in breast cancer have been changing in recent years, diagnosis by objective, standardized and reproducible methods continues to be the basis for defining some issues that still exist." controversial, such as the treatment of isolated tumor cells after primary systemic therapy”.
