The use of ^99mTc-Al₂O₃ for detection of sentinel lymph nodes in cervical cancer patients

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of using 99mTc-Al2O3- based radiopharmaceutical, a novel molecular imaging agent for sentinel lymph node detection in patients with invasive cervical cancer. The study included 23 cervical cancer patients (TlaNxMx- T2bNxMx) treated at the Tomsk Cancer Research Institute. At 18 hours before surgery, 80 MBq of the 99mTc-Al₂O₃ were injected peritumorally, followed by single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of the pelvis and intraoperative SLN identification. Twenty-seven SLNs were detected by SPECT, and 34 SLNs were identified by intraoperative gamma probe. The total number of identified SLNs per patient ranged from 1 to 3(the mean number of SLNs was 1.4 per patient). The most common site for SLN detection was the external iliac region (57.2%), followed by the internal iliac, obturator, presacral and retrosacral regions (they amounted to 14%, respectively),and the parametrial region (1%). Sensitivity in detecting SLNs was 100% for intraoperative SLN identification and 79% for SPECT image.