In addition, the role of total tumor load (TTL; amount of CK19 mRNA copies in all positive SLN) for assessing non-SLN involvement and patient prognosis continues to be an area of active investigation in early breast cancer [16, 17], with a continued focus on sparing patients from axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). The gene discussed is KRT19; the disease is breast carcinoma.