Pre-ATNEC - A Multicentre Prospective Feasibility Study of Carbon Dye Tattooing of Biopsied Axillary Node and Surgical Localisation in Breast Cancer Patients

Pretreatment evaluation of axillary lymph nodes and marking of biopsied nodes in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer is becoming routine practice. Tagging of biopsied axillary lymph nodes with metal markers, similar to what is done for suspicious breast lesions, is being adopted in clinical practice. The need to mark a positive axillary lymph node becomes especially relevant in cases where neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is anticipated so that these nodes may be identified at the time of surgery. Measures that improve both the accuracy of nodal evaluation after NACT and the ability to assess treatment response are desirable in order to tailor therapies for breast cancer treatment. The investigators sought to test tattooing of biopsied axillary lymph nodes with a sterile black carbon suspension (Spot dye). The concept is based on the experience in the gastrointestinal tract wherein tattooing is widely used for marking lesions or tumours biopsied during endoscopy. India ink tattoos of colonic lesions remain identifiable over a long period of time. Spot is routinely used in the UK for tattooing gastrointestinal tract lesions and is used to mark the axillary lymph nodes in breast cancer by some centres in the US and Europe. The intraoperative success of identifying tattooed axillary lymph nodes and their concordance to sentinel nodes will be determined.