Contralateral axillary node metastasis from recurrence after conservative breast cancer surgery

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Surgical Pathology

Background:

• Sentinel lymph node detection (SLND) is standard for primary breast cancer nodal metastasis evaluation.
• Established SLND protocols for recurrent breast cancer are lacking.
• Contralateral axillary node metastasis is an infrequent occurrence in breast cancer recurrence.

Observation:

• Two cases of contralateral axillary node metastasis in recurrent breast cancer are presented.
• In one case, metastasis was detected using SLND.
• In the second case, metastasis was diagnosed pathologically after local recurrence resection, with an FDG-avid contralateral node.

Findings:

• SLND successfully identified contralateral axillary node metastasis in a patient with recurrent breast cancer.
• Contralateral axillary node metastasis can develop even after initial treatment for primary breast cancer.

Implications:

• SLND may be a valuable tool for staging contralateral axillary nodes in recurrent breast cancer.
• This technique could improve treatment decisions for patients with local recurrence post-conservative surgery.
• Further investigation into SLND utility for recurrent breast cancer is warranted.