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Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Multicentric Breast Cancer: Five-Year Results in a Large Series from a Single Institution

  • Breast Oncology
  • Published:
Annals of Surgical Oncology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 11 May 2011

Abstract

Purpose

This study was designed to present the 5-year results of patients with multicentric breast cancer who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in a single institution.

Methods

Between June 1999 and December 2007, 337 patients with multicentric breast cancer and a clinically negative axilla underwent lymphatic mapping by a single periareolar/peritumoral (n = 306) or a double peritumoral or subdermal injection (n = 31) of 99mTc-HSA nanocolloids. The sentinel lymph node (SLN) was evaluated by intraoperative frozen section and axillary dissection was performed only in cases of positive SLNB.

Results

The median age of the patients was 48 (range, 22–81) years. The mean number of hot spots identified was 1.4 in the whole series, 1.3 in patients who received a single injection, and 1.7 in those who received a double injection (P < 0.001). The mean number of removed SLNs was 1.7 (median, 1; range, 1–7) with an identification rate of 100%. A total of 138 patients with negative SLNB (n = 134) or isolated tumor cells in the SLN (n = 4) did not receive completion axillary lymph node dissection (CALND). In these latter patients, a total of 27 events (19.5%) occurred with 3 patients (2.2%) developing axillary recurrences after a median follow-up of 5 years (range, 17–134 months).

Conclusions

Axillary lymph node reappearance was infrequent among patients with multicentric breast cancer, having negative SLNB and no CALND. We recommend SLNB as the standard procedure for nodal staging in patients with multicentric breast cancer and a clinically negative axilla.

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Acknowledgment

The authors are greatly thankful to A.I.R.C. (Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca contro il Cancro), which supported clinical research on sentinel lymph node biopsy. We also thank William Russell-Edu, Librarian, European Institute of Oncology, for revising the English text and the Umberto Veronesi Foundation for supporting this research.

Disclosure

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Senology, European Institute of Oncology, Milano, Italy

    Oreste Gentilini MD, Paolo Veronesi MD, Fiammetta Soggiu MD, Germana Lissidini MD, Viviana Galimberti MD, Simona Musmeci MSc, Antonio Toesca MD, Silvia Ratini MD, Andres Del Castillo MD, Nina Talakhadze MD, Umberto Veronesi MD & Alberto Luini MD

  2. University of Milan School of Medicine, European Institute of Oncology, Milano, Italy

    Paolo Veronesi MD & Giuseppe Viale MD

  3. Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milano, Italy

    Edoardo Botteri MSc & Nicole Rotmensz MSc

  4. Nuclear Medicine Department, European Institute of Oncology, Milano, Italy

    Giuseppe Trifirò MD

  5. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, European Institute of Oncology, Milano, Italy

    Paola Rafaniello Raviele MD & Giuseppe Viale MD

  6. Department of Medical Oncology, European Institute of Oncology, Milano, Italy

    Marco Colleoni MD

Authors
  1. Oreste Gentilini MD
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  2. Paolo Veronesi MD
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  3. Edoardo Botteri MSc
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  4. Fiammetta Soggiu MD
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  5. Giuseppe Trifirò MD
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  6. Germana Lissidini MD
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  7. Viviana Galimberti MD
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  8. Simona Musmeci MSc
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  9. Paola Rafaniello Raviele MD
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  10. Antonio Toesca MD
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  11. Silvia Ratini MD
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  12. Andres Del Castillo MD
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  13. Marco Colleoni MD
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  14. Nina Talakhadze MD
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  15. Nicole Rotmensz MSc
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  16. Giuseppe Viale MD
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  17. Umberto Veronesi MD
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  18. Alberto Luini MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Oreste Gentilini MD.

Additional information

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1245/s10434-011-1760-x

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Gentilini, O., Veronesi, P., Botteri, E. et al. Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Multicentric Breast Cancer: Five-Year Results in a Large Series from a Single Institution. Ann Surg Oncol 18, 2879–2884 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-011-1694-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1245/s10434-011-1694-3

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