Predictive value of axillary nodal mapping after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer

Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the feasibility and accuracy of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in patients with advanced breast cancer after preoperative chemotherapy. Patients and methods: A prospective study was conducted on 73 patients with advanced operable breast carcinoma previously treated with preoperative chemotherapy. Sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping was performed at the time of surgery. Following surgery all patients received comprehensive postoperative radiotherapy at 50 Gy/5 weeks. Results: Seventy-three patients with a median age of 52 years who had been previously treated with preoperative chemotherapy at Menofia University Hospital and National Cancer Institute (NCI) between May 2006 and May 2013 were selected for this study. The SLN detection rate was 79.5%. Thirty-three of 58 patients (56.9%) had successfully mapped positive SLNs. The false-negative rate was 22.4%. Conclusion: This study confirms the feasibility of SLNB after preoperative chemotherapy in the case of advanced operable breast cancer. According to the detection rate and false-negative rate SLNB may predict metastatic disease in the axilla of patients with tumor response following preoperative chemotherapy.