Annals of Diagnostic Pathology
Volume 11, Issue 1 , Pages 10-12, February 2007

Prediction of nonsentinel lymph node metastasis in sentinel node–positive breast carcinoma

This material was presented in part in abstract form (Modern Pathology 18, supplement 1, 37A, 2005. 94th Annual Scientific Meeting of United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology, San Antonio, Tex, February 2005).

  • Umesh Kapur, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pathology, Loyola University Chicago Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA
    • ,
  • Tara Rubinas, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pathology, Loyola University Chicago Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA
    • ,
  • Ritu Ghai, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pathology, Loyola University Chicago Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA
    • ,
  • James Sinacore, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, Loyola University Chicago Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA
    • ,
  • Katherine Yao, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Surgery, Loyola University Chicago Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA
    • ,
  • Prabha B. Rajan, MD, FRCPath

      Affiliations

    • Department of Pathology, Loyola University Chicago Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationCorresponding author. Tel.: +1 708 327 2615.

Abstract 

The incidence of nonsentinel (NSN) lymph node metastases in patients with a tumor-positive sentinel (SN) lymph node varies greatly from 20% to 70% in the published literature. Current practice is that most patients with a positive SN (micro- and macrometastases) undergo a complete axillary dissection. However, it has been shown by other investigators that a large number of patients with a positive SN do not necessarily need a complete axillary dissection. In this analysis, we reviewed the pathology slides from 58 patients who had undergone SN and axillary node dissection. The tumor size, histologic parameters, receptor (estrogen and progesterone), and HER-2neu oncoprotein expression were noted. Student t test and Fisher exact test were used for statistical analysis. Of 58 patients, 19 (32.7%) had NSN metastases. Primary tumor size (P < .002), size of SN metastatic tumor (P < .03), and the presence of extracapsular tumor extension (P < .0001) were associated significantly with NSN metastases. We have shown in this study that it would be possible to predict the NSN status based on primary tumor size, size of SN metastatic tumor, and presence of SN extracapsular tumor extension.

Keywords: Breast, Sentinel node, Metastases

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 

PII: S1092-9134(06)00103-1

doi:10.1016/j.anndiagpath.2006.08.010

Annals of Diagnostic Pathology
Volume 11, Issue 1 , Pages 10-12, February 2007

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution