Association of a complete breast cancer pathologic response with axillary lymph node metastasis via neoadjuvant chemotherapy: Results from the CSBrS-012 study

• Published in: Chinese medical journal Vol. 137; no. 11; pp. 1369 - 1371
• Main Authors: Ma, Le, Gao, Pin, Liu, Zhenzhen, Jiao, Dechuang, Ling, Rui, Xiao, Jingjing, Zhao, Yi, Wang, Yitong, Yang, Hongjian, Liu, Yunjiang, Liu, Ke, Zhang, Jianguo, Li, Guangyan, Mao, Dahua, Deng, Yinglei, He, Jianjun, Amina, Maimaitiaili, Yu, Zhigang, Fei, Wang, Liu, Yinhua, Fu, Peifen, Yao, Minya, Wang, Jiandong, Zhu, Li, Jiang, Hongchuan, Zhao, Zuowei, Tian, Xingsong, Cao, Zhongwei, Ma, Xinyu, Wu, Kejin, Fu, Shaomei, Song, Ailin, Wang, Yanwei, Feng, Jin, Fan, Zhimin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: China Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies 05.06.2024; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Wolters Kluwer
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Axilla; Biopsy; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Cancer therapies; Chemotherapy; Correspondence; Female; Humans; Lymph Nodes - pathology; Lymphatic Metastasis - pathology; Lymphatic system; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Neoadjuvant Therapy; Patients; Surgery; United States > US; China
• ISSN: 0366-6999; 2542-5641; 2542-5641
• DOI: 10.1097/CM9.0000000000002849

To the Editor: In the last decade, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has become a well-accepted treatment option for breast cancer, although few detailed description of NAC in China has yet been reported. In this multicenter retrospective cohort study, we found that the overall usage rate of NAC for breast cancer in China has increased within the last decade, although the rate varies greatly due to region, hospital, or the attitudes of patients and doctors. According to the consensus of the 2017 St. Gallen International Expert Meeting, for patients with stage cN0 disease who receive NAC, SLNB is safe and recommended after NAC. [1,6] Combined with the conclusions of previous studies, for patients with cN1, HR-/HER2+, TNBC, and bpCR, as well as negative SLN patients, avoidance of ALND is acceptable. Since the proportion of patients with more than four positive SLNs is very low, the use of radiotherapy instead of ALND is likely safe for certain types of breast cancer patients.