RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Axillary Clearance Following Positive Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Symptomatic Breast Cancer
JF In Vivo
JO In Vivo
FD International Institute of Anticancer Research
SP 3503
OP 3509
DO 10.21873/invivo.12191
VO 34
IS 6
A1 SHAKER, HUDHAIFAH
A1 MAHATE, ZEINAB
A1 DABRITZ, GRIT
A1 ABSAR, MOHAMMED S.
YR 2020
UL http://iv.iiarjournals.org/content/34/6/3503.abstract
AB Background/Aim: Symptomatic cancers display a different biological behaviour from screen-detected cancers, which may impact the management of axillary metastases. We aimed to determine the role of unselected axillary nodal clearance (ANC) in symptomatic patients with positive sentinel node biopsies (SNBs). Patients and Methods: A case-note review was performed on 95 symptomatic breast cancer patients who underwent ANC following positive SNB. Results: Thirty-eight (40%) patients were treated with a mastectomy and 57 (60%) with breast-conserving surgery. At ANC, 25 patients (26.3%) showed evidence of further lymph node metastases, with 15 (60%) having two or fewer macrometastases. The presence of more than 2 SNB macrometastases was associated with further ANC metastases (p<0.001). The presence of further metastases at ANC was not associated with either reduced overall survival or disease-free survival. Conclusion: A number of symptomatic breast cancer patients with positive SNBs may be overtreated. Ongoing trials examining the management of low volume SNB macrometastases need to consider the symptomatic subgroup in their conclusions.