Contralateral Axillary Lymph Node Metastases from Breast Carcinoma: Is it Time to Review TNM Cancer Staging?

BACKGROUND

Contralateral axillary lymph node metastasis (CAM) is an infrequent clinical condition currently considered an M1, stage IV, disease. Due to the absence of shared data on CAM significance and on its therapeutic approach, be it curative or simply palliative, its management is still uncertain and undoubtedly represents a clinical challenge.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Patients with pathologically confirmed metachronous CAM were retrospectively evaluated. All patients had been managed at the European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy, from 1997. Patients with distant metastases at the time of CAM were excluded. Possible treatments included surgery, systemic therapy and RT (radiotherapy). Outcomes were evaluated as rates of disease-free survival (DFS) and of overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

Forty-seven patients with CAM were included in the study. Metachronous CAM occurred 73 months (range 5-500 months) after diagnosis of the primary tumor. The median follow-up time was 5.4 years (interquartile range 2.9-7.0 years). The estimated OS was 72% at 5 years (95% CI 54-83), and 61% at 8 years (95% CI 43-75). The estimated DFS was 61% at 5 years (95% CI 44-74), and 42% at 8 years (95% CI 25-59).

CONCLUSION

These findings, together with those from previous studies, show that CAM outcome, particularly if measured as OS, appear better than at other sites of distant dissemination, when CAM is subjected to surgical and systemic treatments with a curative intent. Therefore, a new clinical scenario is suggested where, in the TNM system, CAM is no longer classified as a stage IV, but as an N3 disease.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy in microinvasive ductal carcinoma in situ

BACKGROUND

Microinvasive breast cancer is an uncommon pathological entity. Owing to the rarity of this condition, its surgical axillary management and overall prognosis remain controversial.

METHODS

A database was analysed to identify patients with microinvasive ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) who had surgery for invasive breast cancer at the European Institute of Oncology, Milan, between 1998 and 2010. Women who had undergone axillary staging by sentinel lymph node biopsy were included in the study.

RESULTS

Of 257 women with microinvasive breast cancer who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), 226 (87·9 per cent) had negative sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) and 31 had metastatic SLNs. Twelve patients had isolated tumour cells (ITCs), 14 had micrometastases and five had macrometastases in sentinel nodes. Axillary lymph node dissection was performed in 16 of the 31 patients with positive SLNs. After a median follow-up of 11 years, only one regional first event was observed in the 15 patients with positive SLNs who did not undergo axillary lymph node dissection. There were no regional first events in the 16 patients with positive SLNs who had axillary dissection.

CONCLUSION

Good disease-free and overall survival were found in women with positive SLNs and microinvasive DCIS. This study is in line with studies showing that SLNB in microinvasive DCIS may not be useful, and supports the evidence that less surgery can provide the same level of overall survival with better quality of life.