Internal mammary sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer: accurate staging and individualized treatment

• Published in: Zhōnghuá zhŏngliú zázhì Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 42 - 47
• Main Authors: Qiu, Pengfe, Zhao, Rongrong, Cong, Binbin, Yang, Guoren, Liu, Yanbing, Chen, Peng, Sun, Xiao, Wang, Chunjian, Wang, Yongsheng
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: China 01.01.2016
• Subjects: Breast - pathology; Breast Neoplasms - pathology; Female; Humans; Learning Curve; Lymph Nodes - pathology; Lymphatic Metastasis; Mammary Arteries; Neoplasm Staging - methods; Neoplasms, Second Primary; Prospective Studies; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy - methods
• ISSN: 0253-3766
• DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.0253-3766.2016.01.009

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of routinely performed internal mammary sentinel lymph node biopsy (IM-SLNB) on the staging and treatment, and to analyze the success rate, complications and learning curve. All patients with biopsy-proven breast cancer who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy between 2012 and 2014 were included in a prospective analysis. Internal mammary sentinel lymph node biopsy (IM-SLNB) was performed in all patients with IM-SLN visualized on preoperative lymphoscintigraphy and/or detected by intraoperative gamma probe detection. The adjuvant treatment plan was adjusted according to the current guidelines. In a total of 349 patients, 249 patients (71.1%) showed internal mammary drainage. IM-SLNB was performed in 153 patients with internal mammary drainage, with a success rate of IM-SLNB of 97.4% (149/153). Pleural lesion and internal mammary artery bleeding were found in 7.2% and 5.2% patients, respectively. In 8.1% of patients (12/149) the IM-SLN was tumor positive. In th