RESUMO
Sentinel node biopsy has been widely adopted in the treatment of cutaneous melanoma and breast cancer. The ongoing controversy concerning the extension of lymphatic dissection in gastric cancer demonstrate that the optimal extent of lymphadenectomy has yet to be established, and underlines that the research in this area is needed to refine our knowledge and consequently our treatment of gastric tumors. In this paper the authors describe a multicentric protocol concerning the sentinel node research in early and advanced T1-T2 gastric cancer employing the blue dye method and lymphoscintigraphy by means of the endoscopic injection of Tc99m labeled nanocolloids. The aim of this protocol is to assess the clinical relevance of the sentinel node biopsy in selecting N+ patients in early gastric cancer, and the role of the same technique in detecting N2 positive patients in case of advanced gastric cancer. Assuming a confidence interval of +/- 5%, a sample of 100 recruited cases over three years is previewed.