Factors Affecting Non-sentinel Lymph Node Metastasis in Early-Stage Breast Cancer

Objective Breast cancer most commonly metastasizes to axillary lymph nodes via lymphatic drainage. Today, axillary lymph node surgery is at least as important as primary breast surgery. In today's breast surgery, supported by chemotherapy and radiotherapy, current approaches are taken to avoid axillary dissection in appropriate patient groups. In our study, we aimed to evaluate and predict the factors affecting non-sentinel lymph node metastasis in patients with early-stage clinically node-negative breast cancer. Materials and methods Data of 65 female patients were analysed retrospectively. Patient's age, preoperative haemoglobin values, tumour localisation, tumour diameter, number of sentinel lymph nodes sent for frozen examination, and tumour pathological features were investigated in terms of the number of non-sentinel lymph nodes and metastatic lymph nodes removed by axillary dissection, and whether it affects non-sentinel lymph node metastasis was investigated by statistical analysis. Results In the axillary dissection of patients with positive sentinel lymph node metastasis, the number of metastatic non-sentinel lymph nodes was statistically significantly higher in Cerb-B2-positive patients than in Cerb-B2-negative patients (p=0.046). As the stage progressed, the number of metastatic non-sentinel lymph nodes increased as expected (p<0.001). Conclusion In the current axillary surgery, it is a new approach to avoid axillary dissection in appropriate patient groups even if the sentinel lymph node is positive. When planning the surgical treatment of these patients, it should be considered preoperatively that Cerb-B2-positive patients are more prone to axillary non-sentinel lymph node metastasis.