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BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is a widely used staging method for patients with early breast cancer. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy modifies the anatomical conditions in the breast and axilla, and thus SLNB remains controversial in patients treated preoperatively. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the reliability and accuracy of this procedure in this particular group of patients. METHODS: The retrospective study analyzed medical records of patients diagnosed with primary breast cancer between the years 2005 and 2009. Of the patients treated by neoadjuvant therapy, 343 underwent lymphatic mapping to identify sentinel lymph nodes, and these were included in the analysis. RESULTS: The overall detection rate of sentinel lymph nodes was 80.8%. It was strongly influenced by clinical lymph node status (significantly higher success rate in lymph node-negative patients); higher detection rates were also associated with age <50 years, estrogen receptor positivity, lower proliferation index, and absent lymphovascular space invasion. The false-negative rate was 19.5% and was only marginally significantly dependent on lymphovascular space invasion. The overall accuracy of the method was 91.5%. CONCLUSIONS: By using the present technique, sentinel lymph node biopsy cannot be recommended as a reliable predictor of axillary lymph node status when performed at the authors' institution after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Infrequent use of blue dye for lymphatic mapping, low number of resected sentinel lymph nodes, and absence of any selection among patients included in the study could be the main factors responsible for the low detection rate and high false-negative rate. Cancer 2011;117:4606-

Background/Aim: Not only the process of childbirth itself, but also processes during pregnancy seem to be strongly associated with urinary incontinence (UI). According to some epidemiological studies, UI during pregnancy occurs in 23–70% of the pregnant women. These studies also documented some risk factors (e.g., race, age, or body mass index). The aim of our study was to explore the prevalence of UI during pregnancy in the Czech Republic. Methods: 474 primiparas who gave birth at our maternity ward from June 14, 2004, through January 31, 2005, received a questionnaire. The questionnaire concentrated on the occurrence and presentation of UI before and during pregnancy . Results: 339 women (72%) completed the questionnaire. UI and the length of pregnancy are significantly related. We found a baseline UI prevalence before pregnancy of 17%, but before delivery one of 64%. We did not find any statistically significant relation between the prevalence of UI during pregnancy and body mass index before pregnancy as well as before delivery, weight gain during pregnancy, age, and birth weight. Conclusion: Our results show that pregnancy is a risk factor for the development of UI.