THE CASE

Juhi (name changed), 48 years of age, was constantly disturbed by her irregular heavy vaginal bleeding. She consulted her gynaecologist at Panipat who advised a routine USG followed by DAC. It was a real shock for her and her family when the report indicated cancer of uterine lining. She was advised an open surgery at Panipat with complete staging. Juhi was completely shattered until someone suggested her to consult the cancer team at BLK Hospital. The team counselled her to get it removed Laparoscopically along with Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping (LNM ).

THE PROCEDURE

Sentinel Lymph Node (SLN) mapping in Endometrial Cancer provides a bridge between overtreatment and understaging of patients. It targets those nodes which are most likely to harbour the disease, and are easily visible and hence amenable to removal easily.

At BLK, Radioactive tracer (Tc 99m colloid) and coloured dye (methylene blue) are used to locate “hot” nodes. We utilized a combined superficial and deep cervical injection of the tracer and dye for SLN mapping on the day of surgery. Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and gamma probe were used to locate the hot nodes along with direct visualisation of blue nodes intraoperatively. The surgery became easier and less traumatic as overzealous removal of nodes was avoided and a minimally invasive approach could be utilised.

THE RESULT

The patient is doing well, post operatively and is on regular follow-up. She did not experience any trauma of post-op morbidity and swollen legs, thanks to the utmost care delivered by the team at BLK

Dr. Prerna Lakhwani
Associate Consultant
Gynae-Oncology
Surgical Oncology
BLK Cancer Centrel


“Endometrial Cancer is a common malignancy of the female genital tract. Most of these women (90%) are diagnosed with early stage disease (i.e. Stage 1a /1b). Five year overall survival rate in these patients reaches up to 80- 90%. Proper surgical staging is essential as it guides adjuvant therapy later.” ~ Dr. Kapil Kumar Director- BLK Cancer Centre & HOD- Surgical Oncology BLK Super Speciality Hospital