Apparent diffusion coefficient ratio between axillary lymph node with primary tumor to detect nodal metastasis in breast cancer patients

Abstract Background: Axillary lymph node dissection can be avoided in early stage breast cancer patients with negative sentinel lymph node biopsy. However, the possibility of avoiding axillary surgery in patients without axillary lymph node metastasis (ALNM) by preoperative imaging is still under exploration. Thus, the objectives of this study were to investigate the high-risk factors of false negative of ALNM diagnosed by preoperative ultrasound (US) and to find out who could be avoided axillary surgery in the US negative ALNM patients.Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 3,361 patients with primary early breast cancer diagnosed in the Breast Center of the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University from January 2010 to December 2012. All patients had undergone routine preoperative US and then axillary lymph node dissected. This study investigated the clinicopathological features of axillary lymph node (ALN) negative patients diagnosed by preoperative US and its correlation with prognosis. The follow-up data for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were obtained from 2,357 patients. Results: The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of axillary US in this cohort were 66.24%, 76.62% and 73.87%. The proportion of patients in the false negative group was higher than that in true negative in the group of age < 50 years old (P = 0.002), tumor size > 2cm (P = 0.008), estrogen receptor (ER) positive (P = 0.005), progesterone receptor (PR) high expression (P = 0.007), nuclear-associated antigen Ki-67 (Ki-67) >20% (P = 0.030), visible vascular tumor thrombus (P < 0.001) and histological grade>2 (P < 0.001). Prognostic analysis of false negative and true negative ultrasonographic diagnosis of ALN metastasis: when ALNM was not found by preoperative ultrasound, there was no significant difference in patients with ALNM≤3 compared with patients without lymph node metastasis in patients of age ≥ 50 years old, tumor size ≤ 2cm, Ki-67 ≤ 20%, or histological grade ≤ 2. Conclusion: The surgery of ALN may be avoided for the preoperative US diagnosed ALNs negative in early breast cancer patients who had advanced age, small tumor size, low expression of Ki-67 and low histological grade.

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False-Negative Frozen Section of Sentinel Nodes in Early Breast Cancer Patients

10.21203/rs.3.rs-307059/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Zhu-Jun Loh ◽

Kuo-Ting Lee ◽

Ya-Ping Chen ◽

Yao-Lung Kuo ◽

Wei-Pang Chung ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Lymph Node ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Frozen Section ◽

False Negative ◽

Axillary Lymph ◽

Breast Cancer Patients ◽

Frozen Sections ◽

Sentinel Nodes ◽

Tumor Emboli

Abstract Background: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is the standard approach of the axillary region for early breast cancer patients with clinically negative nodes. The present study investigated patients with false-negative sentinel nodes of intraoperative frozen section (FNSNs) in real-world data.Methods: A case–control study with a 1:3 ratio was conducted. FNSN was diagnosed when sentinel nodes (SNs) are negative in frozen sections but positive for metastasis in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) sections. The control was defined as having no metastasis of SNs in both frozen and FFPE sections.Results: A total of 20 FNSN cases and 60 matched controls were enrolled from 333 SLNB patients between April 1, 2005, and November 31, 2009. The demographics and intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer were similar between FNSN and controls. The FNSN patients had larger tumor sizes in preoperative mammography (P = 0.033) and more lymphatic tumor emboli in core biopsy (P < 0.001). Four FNSN patients had metastasis in the non-relevant SNs. Another 16 FNSN patients had benign lymphoid hyperplasia of SNs in frozen sections and metastasis in the same SNs from the FFPE sections. Micrometastasis was detected in seven of 16 patients, and metastases in non-relevant SNs were recognized in two patients. All FNSN patients received a second operation with axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). After a median follow-up of 143 months, no FNSN patients developed recurrence of breast cancer. The disease-free survival, disease-specific survival, and overall survival in FNSN were not inferior to the controls.Conclusions: The patients with a larger tumor size and more lymphatic tumor emboli have a higher incidence of FNSN. However, outcomes of FNSN patients after completing ALND were noninferior to those without metastasis in SNs. ALND provides a correct diagnosis of patients with metastasis in non-sentinel axillary lymph nodes.

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