THE HISTORY OF SENTINEL NODE BIOPSY IN HEAD AND NECK CANCER: FROM VISUALIZATION OF LYMPHATIC VESSELS TO SENTINEL NODES (REVIEW)

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DOI:  https://www.doi.org/10.31917/1903299

The purpose of this review is to describe the history of the biopsy technique of the signaling lymph node in head and neck cancer. Biopsy of the signaling lymph node is a minimally invasive procedure that allows selection of those patients who need to be treated for metastatic lesions of the lymph nodes of the neck. Despite the fact that this procedure was recently approved for early oral cancer, the first studies on the visualization of cervical lymph vessels were published in the 1960s. In the 1980s, studies began on mapping lymphatic outflow from specific localization of the head and neck. Biopsy of the signaling lymph node was further developed in the 1990s and after validation in this century is routinely used in several centers dealing with head and neck tumors. New technologies can further improve the biopsy accuracy of the signaling lymph node, especially in complex tumor localizations, for example,the bottom of the oral cavity.