ABSTRACT
Objective: The aim of this study was to show the incidence of patients with positive non-sentinel (non-SLN) after the axillary dissection was performed due to positive sentinel lymph node (SLN) and also to show how the incidence of positive non-SLN depends on penetration of sentinel's capsule by malignant cells, gradus and molecular subtype of the breast cancer.
Methods: An analysis was performed on a total of 77 patients with a positive SLN from a five year period. Patients were categorized according to the following criteria: positivity of non-SLN, invasion of SLN capsule, as well as tumor grade, T stage, and molecular subtype.
Results: In over 65% of patients non-SLN metastases were negative despite a positive SLN. A noticeable correlation was observed between SLN capsule penetration and positive non-SLN metastases (p < 0.001). It was also confirmed that non-SLN metastases are more commonly positive in patients with a high tumour grade, high T stage, and HER-2 positive and triple negative tumours.
Conclusion: Non-SLN metastases are generally found in patients with positive SLN capsule penetration by malignant cells, in those with low differentiated tumors (high grade), and in those with high T stage, as well as in triple negative and HER-2 positive tumours. Based on these findings, such patients should undergo axillary dissection due to increased risk of non-SLN metastases.
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