Removing 5 sentinel lymph nodes is enough for accurate lymph node staging in the vast majority of breast cancers

Our study determines how many sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) need to be removed for accurate lymph node staging and which patient and tumor characteristics influence this number. Data from 777 patients with at least 1 SLN that was positive for cancer have been collected in this retrospective study. The mean number of SLNs removed in the 777 lymph node-positive patients was 2.9 (range, 1-13 SLNs). Greater than 99% of positive SLNs were identified in the first 5 lymph nodes removed. On multivariate analysis, mixed ductal and lobular histo logy, Caucasian race, inner quadrant tumor location, and T1 tumor classification significantly increased the number of SLNs that needed to be removed to achieve 99% recovery of all positive SLNs. In general, the removal of a maximum of 5 SLNs at surgery allowed for the recovery of >99% of positive SLNs in patients with breast cancer. Tumor histology, patient race, and tumor size and location may influence this number.

 

Bibliographic Reference

Yi M et al.: "How many sentinel lymph nodes are enough during sentinel lymph node dissection for breast cancer?", Cancer. 2008 [Epub ahead of print]

Kelly K. Hunt