Does Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer Affect Lymph Node Harvest Rates?

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Surgical Oncology
• Breast Cancer Research

Background:

• Previous reports suggest neoadjuvant chemotherapy may reduce lymph node harvest during axillary dissection.
• This potential reduction could impact staging and treatment decisions for breast cancer patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on the number of lymph nodes harvested during axillary dissection.
• To compare node harvest and the rate of dissections with fewer than 10 nodes between patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy and those undergoing upfront surgery.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 258 breast cancer patients who underwent axillary lymph node dissection between July 2015 and December 2017.
• Comparison of mean lymph node yield and percentage of dissections with < 10 nodes between groups who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy versus those who had surgery first.
• Statistical analysis using the Chi-squared test.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant difference in the mean number of lymph nodes harvested between patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (14.9 ± 6.6) and those who underwent surgery first (14.3 ± 6.3).
• Similar proportions of patients in both groups had fewer than 10 lymph nodes harvested (20% in the neoadjuvant group vs. 21% in the surgery-first group).

Conclusions:

• Neoadjuvant chemotherapy does not significantly reduce the number of lymph nodes harvested during axillary dissection.
• The findings suggest that neoadjuvant chemotherapy does not negatively affect the adequacy of axillary staging based on lymph node yield.