Abstract
Randomized clinical trials have brought about major changes in the surgical management of the axilla in patients with breast cancer. Sentinel lymph node biopsy is the standard of care for axillary staging in patients with invasive breast carcinoma with clinically negative lymph nodes. Prior to the results of the ACOSOG Z0011 trial, all patients with a sentinel lymph node with metastasis underwent axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). The ACOSOG Z0011 trial demonstrated that women with clinically T1–T2 N0 disease who undergo breast-conserving surgery and whole-breast radiotherapy can safely avoid ALND. We review the main indications, contraindications, and controversies of SLNB in breast cancer as well as the results of the major recently clinical trials on managing the axilla in a patient with a clinically positive sentinel lymph node.
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Amersi, F., Giuliano, A.E. (2019). Axillary Surgery. In: Urban, C., Rietjens, M., El-Tamer, M., Sacchini, V.S. (eds) Oncoplastic and Reconstructive Breast Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62927-8_19
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62927-8_19
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