Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Initially Node Positive Breast Cancer Patients, Could it Omit Axillary Dissection ?

Sentinel Lymph Node

The aim of this study is to determine the accuracy and safety of SLNB after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. The morbidity and mortality of breast cancer are much higher than those observed with other female cancers . The incidence of breast cancer increases with age. Approximately 1.7 million new cases are estimated to occur worldwide, and mortality is increasing in developing countries, primarily because the disease is not diagnosed until it is in an advanced stage Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is considered the standard of care for the anagement of locally advanced breast cancer and although this treatment has historically been reserved for those with inoperable breast cancer now is increasingly being used for women with earlier stage disease. . Encouraging results obtained with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in have resulted in clinicians using preoperative chemotherapy for patients with smaller tumors. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) could reduce surgical morbidity of the breast and axilla. By down staging of the tumor, NACT can convert patients who are candidates for mastectomy to breast-conserving surgery (BCS) candidates . Furthermore, it has potential to reduce excision volumes in patients with large tumors who are already candidates for BCS. Another surgical advantage is down staging of the axilla so that axillary lymph node dissection can be avoided . In the treatment of breast cancer, sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has replaced axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) as the staging procedure for patients with clinically node-negative disease. It provides accurate assessment of histological nodal status, guides additional therapies and is associated with less morbidity than ALND. Historically, patients who were clinically node-negative would undergo SLNB, whereas patients who were node-positive underwent ALND. SLNB in the neoadjuvant setting has become a topic of debate. Unfortunately, the reliability of SLNB after NAC remains questionable. Chemotherapy causes fibrosis, fat necrosis and granulation tissue formation, which alters lymphatic drainage patterns.

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