Infrared Lymphangiography as a Method of Sentinel Node Identification
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2016-02-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The initial treatment for most people with melanoma involves wide excision of the skin and
sentinel node biopsy. As with other cancers, the status of the sentinel node provides
important prognostic information to the patient and physician. Sentinel node biopsy was first
developed using only a blue dye. Technetium99, a radioactive protein, was added later and
provides the ability to image the patient and identify relevant lymph node basins. For the
last 15 years or so, the standard method of SLN localization includes both tech99 and blue
dye. While the rates of localization overall are excellent, these methods each have
drawbacks. We are investigating a new method of finding sentinel nodes that uses a green dye
that has an infrared signal. Our hypothesis is that indocyanine green (ICG) and real time
lymphangiography is equivalent to technetium99 and methylene blue in identifying sentinel
nodes (SLN) in patients with melanoma.