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Negative axillary ultrasonography with biopsy may predict non‐involvement of the non‐sentinel lymph nodes in operable breast cancer patients
Author(s) -
Al Ayyan Muna,
Bu Ali Omaima,
Al Sharri Sheikha,
Kassis Adnan,
Hussain Sabir,
AlBashir Mohamed
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
asia‐pacific journal of clinical oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 1743-7563
pISSN - 1743-7555
DOI - 10.1111/ajco.12039
Subject(s) - medicine , sentinel lymph node , axillary lymph node dissection , breast cancer , biopsy , lymph , axillary dissection , radiology , axillary lymph nodes , lymph node , fine needle aspiration , surgery , cancer , pathology
Aim To evaluate whether axillary ultrasound in combination with a biopsy ( AUS +/− B x) can predict the involvement of the non‐sentinel lymph nodes ( NSLN ). Methods A review of all operable breast cancer patients who underwent AUS +/− B x at our tertiary care center from J anuary 2010 to A pril 2011 was performed. All patients underwent AUS as part of their pre‐operative evaluation. If the AUS was suspicious, a fine‐needle aspiration or core‐needle biopsy was performed. Results Of 88 patients included in our final analysis, 20 (23%) had positive AUS + B x and underwent axillary lymph node dissection ( ALND ) at time of definitive surgery. In all, 68 of the 88 patients (77.3%) had negative AUS +/− B x and underwent sentinel lymph node ( SLN ) B x at the time of definitive surgery. If the SLN B x was negative, no further axillary surgery was performed and the NSLN were assumed to be negative. If the SLN B x was positive, ALND was performed. Of the 68 patients, 62 (91%) had a negative NSLN . Patients with positive AUS + B x carry a relative risk of 2.02 ( P < 0.00002) of having positive NSLN . Conclusion In operable breast cancer patients, a negative AUS +/− B x may be a predictor of non‐involvement of the NSLN .