Role of ultrasound-guided axillary fine-needle aspiration in the management of invasive breast cancer

Background Previous studies from Women & Infants’ Hospital have reported the accuracy of ultrasound-guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy examination of axillary lymph nodes (USFNAB) for locally advanced breast cancer. The aim of this article is to report our further experience with USFNAB in staging the axilla and determining its affect on management decisions. Methods We performed a retrospective review of prospectively collected data between January 1998 and June 2005. Results A total of 220 patients underwent USFNAB for breast cancer. Of these, 52 were excluded. Of the 168 remaining patients, 79 had positive and 89 had negative USFNAB results. A total of 107 (63%) patients underwent primary surgery and 61 (37%) patients underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy. In these patients, the sensitivity and specificity of USFNAB was 35% and 96% for T1, and 67% and 100% for T2, respectively. Conclusions The high specificity of USFNAB could safely eliminate sentinel lymph node biopsy examination before axillary lymph node dissection, particularly in T2 lesions.