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This picks up the radioactive liquid and traces it as it moves through the lymphatic vessels and into the lymph nodes. The radioactive liquid is called a tracer. You have an injection of a small amount of mildly radioactive liquid into the area close to the cancer. This scan shows the surgeon which lymph nodes to remove but doesn’t tell them whether the nodes contain cancer. You usually have this in the nuclear medicine department in the hospital. The day before or morning of your operation you have a scan to show where the sentinel nodes are. How you have a sentinel lymph node biopsy Before your sentinel lymph node biopsy You might have a sentinel node biopsy at the same time as your operation to remove the cancer. This is usually for people with early stage mouth cancer. The doctor then checks to see if this lymph nodes contains cancer cells.
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Lymph nodes are small bean shaped glands found throughout the body, including the head and neck area. Why do you need surgery to remove the lymph nodes? The doctor then checks to see if this lymph node contains cancer cells.
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You might have a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), This is a test to find the first lymph node or nodes that a cancer may spread to. Surgery to remove the lymph nodes in the neck is called a neck dissection. Surgeons don't routinely do a neck dissection on everyone because it can have long term side effects. Surgery to remove the lymph nodes in your neckĬancers of the mouth and oropharynx can spread to lymph nodes in your neck. Your surgeon might remove some or all of the lymph nodes in your neck.