PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Breast Cancer
Non-Invasive Lymphatic MRI as a Potential Alternative to Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Early-Stage Breast Cancer: A Perspective
Provisionally accepted
- the Affiliated Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital of Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
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Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) remains the gold standard for axillary lymph node staging in early breast cancer. However, being an invasive procedure, it entails surgical risks and can result in complications such as lymphedema and sensory disturbances, thereby imposing significant physical and psychological burdens on patients. With recent advances in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), high-resolution noninvasive lymphatic MRI—especially when integrated with lymph node–specific contrast agents and functional sequences such as diffusion-weighted imaging and dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging—has shown superior soft-tissue resolution and functional assessment capabilities. This approach shows promise for accurately identifying lymph node metastases and may provide a reliable alternative to SLNB, thus preventing many node-negative patients from unnecessary invasive procedures. The adoption of this noninvasive strategy offers significant clinical value, as it may improve patients' quality of life while reducing overall healthcare costs. However, large-scale prospective clinical trials are needed to confirm its diagnostic accuracy and cost-effectiveness, thereby facilitating its translation into routine clinical practice. Keywords: breast cancer; sentinel lymph node biopsy; magnetic resonance imaging; noninvasive diagnosis; axillary staging; lymphedema.
Keywords: Axillary staging, breast cancer, Lymphedema, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Noninvasive diagnosis, Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
Received: 20 Sep 2025; Accepted: 09 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Li, Li, Xiao, Liu and Fang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jin Fang
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