1017 Sentinel Node Biopsy Vs Axillary Node Clearance in Early Breast Cancer

Abstract Aim The introduction of sentinel node biopsy (SLNB) in the late 1990s negated the need for axillary node clearance (ANC) in patients demonstrated to have early invasive breast cancer and histologically node-negative disease. However, the latest evidence from large multi-centre randomised trials suggests that patients could be spared this potentially debilitating procedure077. However, these following criteria must be met: Method A retrospective study of the database of breast cancer patients who had ANC between January 2018 to December 2019 in a single institution was undertaken. The histological results of patients who fulfilled the above criteria were analysed. Results Out of 75 patients who had ANC, 2 were excluded due to inadequate data.The average age was 59 (range 34-83).Of the remaining 73 patients, 57 patients (78%) had early breast cancer (T1/2), 11 (19%) of which fulfilled the criteria for sparing of ANC. Of those 11 patients, 8 (73%) had 0 LNs and 3 (27%) had 1 involved lymph node on histological assessment. Conclusions It has been observed that significant morbidity is associated with ANC. A greater subset of patients can benefit from a more sophisticated and evidence-based approach to the management of the axilla in early breast cancer, safely avoiding ANC without compromising survival.