Update on the sentinel lymph node procedure in vulvar cancer

Abstract

Currently, standard treatment for early-stage vulvar cancer typically includes wide local excision of the primary tumor and inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy. The morbidity of this treatment is high. The sentinel lymph node (SLN) procedure provides us with a technique for determining the status of the regional lymph nodes with less treatment-related morbidity. Recently, a large multicenter observational study provided level 3 evidence indicating that it appears safe to omit inguinofemoral lymphadenectomy in case of a negative SLN. This review focuses on the different aspects of the SLN procedure in vulvar cancer.