Supraclavicular and Contralateral Axillary Lymph Node Involvement in Breast Cancer Patients

Ipsilateral supraclavicular disease was reclassified from Stage IV, distant metastatic disease, to Stage IIIC, locally advanced breast cancer 20 years ago. Treatment with curative intent with multimodality therapy has led to improved outcomes over time. In contrast, metastatic disease to contralateral axillary lymph nodes remains as Stage IV distant disease. Despite this, in the absence of other distant metastases, many patients with contralateral axillary disease are treated more aggressively than other Stage IV patients. Outcomes of patients with contralateral axillary disease treated with curative intent are more like patients with ipsilateral supraclavicular disease and other locally advanced breast cancers than patients with de novo distant metastases elsewhere. Therefore, some favor reclassification of contralateral axillary metastases without distant metastasis from Stage IV to Stage III breast cancer similar to ipsilateral supraclavicular metastases.