Cassandra

Many thanks for the kinds words in regard to my mom. Please do not draw an unfavorable conclusion from the materials cited. As indicated the "jury is still out" on the issue of micrometastases in the sentinel node. Dr. Love believes that you are correct to treat your case as node negative. The 2002 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium presentation supports her conclusion with respect to premenoposal women and seems a bit inconclusive for postmenoposal women.

The "take away" for all the studies seems to be that the area of micrometastases in the sentinel node bone marrow and blood is still ongoing and far from complete especially as a prognostic indicator. Please do not draw a negative conclusion from your results. Node negative under standard testing methods is generally a positive indicator.

Best regards

Paul C.