Pelvic Sentinel Lymph Node mapping and dissection

I have a grade 1 endometrial womb lining tumour and because grade 1 have option to have pelvic lymph nodes removed or not. 2-3% risk that will have spread to nodes so big step to have nodes removed with associated risks but obviously want correct staging of disease and treatment and peace of mind that no cancer in nodes.

My hospital does't offer the mapping / sentinel option.

Does anyone know where this can be done in Scotland, NHS or private please and any other useful information/advice please.

  • Hello and thanks for posting.

    I am sorry to hear about your situation, and can appreciate why you exploring the different options for the staging and treatment for your cancer.

    Stage 1 endometrial womb cancers are usually slow growing and unlikely to spread as they are normally diagnosed early on and treatment is very successful. As you have said sometimes they include sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNLB) to check for cancer cells that may have spread but as you have already said the risk of this is extremely low at this stage. But clearly there are a small group of women who are found to have a higher grade of cancer than first thought by having the SNLB which then determines the treatment they should have after surgery.

    If you would like you could read here a document about sentinel node biopsy written by the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, I'm afraid they are full of medical jargon but I think they might give you some more food for thought perhaps.

    Even though the hospital you are under don't offer the sentinel node option they should be able to tell you which hospitals do and refer you on if you decide to have this done. Do have a chat to your doctor about this, I understand this is a difficult decision to make and you need to be able to weigh up the benefits versus the risks for you in your situation. I'm not sure if you have a specialist nurse but you might find it useful to talk about this with them too.

    If you have anymore questions please get back to us, or if you would like to talk to one of the nurses, our number is 0808 800 4040, we are here Monday to Friday 9am till 5pm. 

    Take care,

    Naomi 

  • Thank you. I assume once a hysterectomy is done it is too late to do sentinel mapping?