[Sentinel node involvement in T0-T1 breast cancers]

Ultrasound combined with fine needle aspiration cytology for the assessment of axillary lymph nodes in patients with early stage breast cancer

This study aimed to explore the clinical usefulness of ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology (USG-FNAC) for the evaluation of axillary lymph nodes in patients with early stage breast cancer (BC) among the Chinese Han female population.Around 124 patients with early stage BC were included in this retrospective study. All patients underwent USG-FNAC (group A). Patients with proven metastasis also underwent axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) (group B). In addition, sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) was performed 2 to 5 hours prior to the surgery.The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive predictive value (PPV) of axillary ultrasound were 75.0%, 75.0%, 75.0%, and 82.6%, respectively, while for USG-FNAC, they were 80.8%, 100.0%, 88.7%, and 100.0%, respectively. Significant differences were found in specificity, accuracy, and PPV between the 2 procedures (P < .05).The results of this study demonstrated that USG-FNAC was effective for selecting patients with early stage BC using ALND or SLNB among the Chinese Han female population.

Axillary Lymph Node Echo-Guided Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology Enables Breast Cancer Patients to Avoid a Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy. Preliminary Experience and a Review of the Literature

PURPOSE

For many years, the status of the axillary lymph nodes has been determined by an axillary lymphadenectomy. However, a sentinel lymph node biopsy has been shown to effectively replace the need for an axillary lymphadenectomy in order to determine the axillary staging. This study presents the preliminary results regarding the efficacy of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) to identify metastatic axillary lymph nodes in the pre-operative phase.

METHODS

One hundred lymph nodes from 100 patients with histologically and cytologically confirmed breast cancer (cT1-2 cN0) underwent echo-guided FNAC. The diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value [PPV], negative predictive value [NPV]) for the axillary metastases was evaluated based on the histological findings of either a sentinel lymph node biopsy or an axillary lymphadenectomy as a reference standard.

RESULTS

It was possible to avoid a sentinel lymph node biopsy in 30% of the cases; the sensitivity was 68%, specificity 100%, PPV 100%, and NPV 65%. Echo-guided FNAC of the axillary lymph nodes should thus be included among the regular diagnostic procedures of presurgical staging.

CONCLUSION

This simple, inexpensive, and minimally invasive technique makes it possible to avoid the additional cost of a sentinel lymph node biopsy while also sparing the patient the stress of undergoing a second surgery.

Role of Sonography in the Diagnosis of Axillary Lymph Node Metastases in Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of our study was to evaluate the accuracy of sonography and sonographically guided biopsy in the preoperative diagnosis of metastatic invasion of the axilla in patients with breast carcinoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We performed a MEDLINE search (keywords, "sonography" OR "ultrasound" AND "axillary") and a manual search of the references of relevant studies and reviews of preoperative diagnosis on sonography of possible axillary metastases. The gold standard required was axillary lymph node dissection; we accepted sentinel node biopsy as an alternative gold standard. Considering the sonographic findings and the results of the sonographically guided biopsy, the sensitivity and specificity were calculated using metaanalysis. We also checked the existence of heterogeneity of the summary results.

RESULTS

Sixteen articles were selected. In sonography of axillae without palpable nodes, and using lymph node size as the criterion for positivity, sensitivity varied between 48.8% (95% confidence interval, 39.6-58%) and 87.1% (76.1-94.3%) and specificity, between 55.6% (44.7-66.3%) and 97.3% (86.1-99.9%). When lymph node morphology was used as the criterion for positivity, sensitivity ranged from 26.4% (15.3-40.3%) to 75.9% (56.4-89.7%) and specificity, from 88.4% (82.1-93.1%) to 98.1% (90.1-99.9%). The results are different if axillae with palpable nodes are included. The sonographically guided biopsy shows a sensitivity that varies between 30.6% (22.5-39.6%) and 62.9% (49.7-74.8%) and a specificity of 100% (94.8-100%). Many of the summary results obtained after meta-analysis show a heterogeneity that disappears, on occasion, on excluding the studies that use a double gold standard.

CONCLUSION

Axillary sonography is moderately sensitive and fairly specific in the diagnosis of axillary metastatic involvement. Sonographically guided biopsy of the sonographically suspicious nodes somewhat increases the specificity, which reaches 100%. Negative sonographic results do not exclude axillary lymph node metastases.

Ultrasonographically-guided fine-needle aspiration of axillary lymph nodes: role in breast cancer management

The knowledge of the status of axillary lymph nodes (LN) of patients with breast cancer is a fundamental prerequisite in the therapeutic decision. In the present work, we evaluated the impact of fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of ultrasonographically (US) selected axillary LN in the diagnosis of LN metastases and subsequently in the treatment of patients with breast cancer. Axillary US was performed in 298 patients with diagnosed breast cancer (267 invasive carcinomas and 31 ductal carcinoma in situ DCIS), and in 95 patients it was followed by FNAC of US suspicious LN. Smears were examined by routine cytological staining. Cases of uncertain diagnosis were stained in immunocytochemistry (ICC) with a combination of anticytokeratin and anti-HMFG2 antibodies. Eighty-five FNAC were informative (49 LN were positive for metastases, 36 were negative). In 49 of 267 patients with invasive breast carcinoma (18%), a preoperative diagnosis of metastatic LN in the axilla could be confirmed. These patients could proceed directly to axillary dissection. In addition, US-guided FNAC presurgically scored 49 out of 88 (55%) metastatic LN. Of all others, with nonsuspicious LN on US (203 cases including 31 DCIS), in which no FNAC examination was performed, 28 invasive carcinomas (16%) turned out to be LN positive on histological examination. Based on these data, US examination should be performed in all patients with breast cancer adding ICC-supported FNAC only on US-suspect LN. This presurgical protocol is reliable for screening patients with LN metastases that should proceed directly to axillary dissection or adjuvant chemotherapy, thus avoiding sentinel lymph node biopsy.