• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.546-552
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• 2007

Purpose: In the breast cancer patient, lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy are the most important procedure for axillary lymph node staging. We aimed to compare the three radiocolloids [$^{99m}Tc$-antimony trisulfide colloid (ASC), $^{99m}Tc$-tin colloid (TC), and $^{99m}Tc$-human serum albumin (HSA)] for sentinel lymph node mapping. Subjects and Methods: Totally, 397 patients with clinically N0 stage were enrolled. $^{99m}Tc$-ASC was injected in 202 out of 397 patients, $^{99m}Tc$-TC was injected in 120 patients, and $^{99m}Tc$-HSA was injected in the remaining 75 patients. The sentinel lymph nodes were localized by lymphoscintigraphy and selected using intraoperative gamma probe. All sentinel lymph nodes were investigated by intraoperative pathologic consultation. The axillary lymph nodes which were harvested by the lymph node dissection were also investigated. Results: The patients of each group showed similar clinical characteristics. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in the identification rate of sentinel lymph nodes (IR), false negative rate (FNR), and negative predictive value (NPV). The axillary lymphadenectomy revealed axillary lymph node metastases in those three groups (ASC-33.2%, TC-31.7%, HSA-22.7%). The IR, FNR, and NPV were not significantly different among those groups. Conclusion: Those three $^{99m}Tc$-labeled radiocolloids showed equivalent results in sentinel lymph node mapping of breast cancer.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.25-29
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• 2009

Purpose: Several radioactive agents were used for lymphoscintigraphy in breast cancer. But recently, due to the change of local radiopharmaceutical licensing policy and discontinuation of supplies from manufacturer, we could not use many radiocolloids such as $^{99m}Tc$-Antimony Trisulfide Colloid, $^{99m}Tc$-Tin Colloid, $^{99m}Tc$-Human Serum Albumin. So it is necessary to use the substitution radiopharmaceutical. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the performance of substitution radiopharmaceutical ($^{99m}Tc$-Phytate) including the existing radiocolloids and to set up of the appropriate protocol in lymphoscintigraphy. Materials and Methods: For each radiocolloids ($^{99m}Tc$-Antimony Trisulfide Colloid (ASC), $^{99m}Tc$-Tin Colloid (TC), $^{99m}Tc$-Human Serum Albumin (HSA), $^{99m}Tc$-Phytate) were performed the particle size by Zeta Sizer (Nano-ZS) and we compared the radiolabeling time, procedure and acquisition time for each of the radiocolloids (total 200 patients). For the last time, we made an analysis of image for each of the radiocolloids with our previous report (SJ Jang et al, Korean Nucl Med Mol imaging Vol.41, No.6, Dec 2007). Results: The particle size of each radiocolloids showed A.S.C (50 nm), T.C (310 nm), H.S.A (10.8 nm), $^{99m}Tc$-Phytate (499 nm). The labeling and acquisition time for each of the radiocolloids showed no substantial difference. But there is difference of the labeling time for the A.S.C. because the ASC procedure need to boiling process. There were no significant differences among those radiocolloids (p>0.005) in the identification rate (IR), false negative rate (FNR), and negative predictive value (NPV). Conclusions: $^{99m}Tc$-labeled radiocolloids showed equivalent results in lymphoscintigraphy. Therefore, in this exam of each radiocolloids could be applied appropriate protocol in lymphoscintigraphy.