Table 6.

Pros and cons of nanocolloid with different labelling method in the pre- and intraoperative setting.

Nanocolloid label and detection	Preoperative imaging		Operative detection
	Pros	Cons	Pros	Cons
99mTc planar	(i) Well-assessed methodology	(i) Shine through phenomenon (ii) Gross anatomic landmark	(i) 1 or 2 days protocol possible (ii) 6-hour half-life enables ex vivo quantification of excised SLN (iii) No tracer spread during surgery (iv) Portable cameras available	(i) Difficulty to assess the depth of the signal
99mTc SPET-CT	(i) Good anatomical localization (ii) Shine through phenomenon less relevant	(i) Absolute quantification less accurate than with PET
68Ga PET-CT	(i) Precise anatomical localization of the target (ii) Better differentiation between the first and second echelon lymph nodes (iii) Accurate quantification of the uptake (SUV)	(ii) Logistics	(i) Electronic collimation needed for gamma detection (ii) New positron detectors assuring high sensitivity for superficial targets	(i) Thorough logistic organization (ii) Radioprotection problems (iii) Difficult depth assessment with gamma ray detectors
ICG		(i) Poor quality detection strictly depth-dependent	(i) High contrast and sensitivity, low noise background (ii) Long-term signal availability up to many days (iii) Easy use	(i) Obesity (ii) Autofluorescence (iii) The amount of fluorophore within tissue cannot be determined accurately by fluorescence intensity measurements