Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Breast Cancer Patients With Pathological Complete Response in the Axillary Lymph Node After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
Hyun Hee Kim, Jaihong Han, Sun‐Young Kim, Eun Sook Lee, Han‐Sung Kang, Seeyoun Lee, So-Youn Jung, Eun‐Gyeong Lee
Abstract
PURPOSE: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) alone following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) remains controversial in patients with breast cancer who are initially lymph node-positive. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of SLNB and axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) on breast cancer recurrence and survival in patients who converted from lymph node-positive to pathological node-negative (ypN0) after NAC. METHODS: This single-center retrospective study included 223 patients who converted to axillary lymph node-negative status after NAC and underwent breast and axillary surgery between January 2006 and December 2015. This study compared the overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), ipsilateral axillary lymph node recurrence rates and incidence of postoperative complications, especially, arm lymphedema and shoulder stiffness between SLNB and ALND. RESULTS: < 0.001). CONCLUSION: As an alternative to ALND, SLNB has oncological safety in patients with axillary pathological complete response after NAC.