How do we evaluate Sentinel nodes and interpret the findings?

Current Breast Cancer Reports

Volumn 1, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 12-20

  Cody III, Hiram S ^a  

^a MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ANTINEOPLASTIC AGENT;

ADJUVANT THERAPY; AXILLA; AXILLARY LYMPH NODE EXTIRPATION; AXILLARY LYMPH NODE METASTASIS; BREAST CANCER; CANCER CLASSIFICATION; CANCER COMBINATION CHEMOTHERAPY; CANCER DIAGNOSIS; CANCER RADIOTHERAPY; CANCER RELAPSE; CLINICAL EVALUATION; CLINICAL PROTOCOL; CLINICAL TRIAL; COHORT ANALYSIS; DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY; DIAGNOSTIC VALUE; DISEASE FREE SURVIVAL; DISEASE SEVERITY; HUMAN; IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY; LABORATORY DIAGNOSIS; LABORATORY TEST; LYMPH NODE DISSECTION; LYMPH NODE METASTASIS; MASTECTOMY; MEDICAL EXAMINATION; MICROMETASTASIS; OUTCOME ASSESSMENT; OVERALL SURVIVAL; PATHOLOGY; PREMENOPAUSE; PROGNOSIS; PROSPECTIVE STUDY; REVIEW; SENTINEL LYMPH NODE; SENTINEL LYMPH NODE BIOPSY; SINGLE DRUG DOSE; SURGICAL MORTALITY; SURGICAL RISK; SURVIVAL RATE; TUMOR CELL; TUMOR LOCALIZATION; TUMOR VOLUME;

EID: 77953388270     PISSN: 19434588     EISSN: 19434596     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s12609-009-0003-7     Document Type: Review

References (54)

1. • Kim T, Giuliano AE, Lyman GH: Lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymph node biopsy in early-stage breast carcinoma. Cancer 2006, 106:4-16. An overview of 69 studies in which sentinel lymph node biopsy was validated by a backup axillary lymph node dissection, establishing the feasibility and accuracy of the procedure.
2. Veronesi U, Paganelli G, Viale G, et al.: A randomized comparison of sentinel-node biopsy with routine axillary dis-section in breast cancer. N Engl J Med 2003, 349:546-553.
3. Purushotham AD, Upponi S, Klevesath MB, et al.: Morbidity after sentinel lymph node biopsy in primary breast cancer: results from a randomized controlled trial. J Clin Oncol 2005, 23:4312-4321.
4. Mansel RE, Fallowfield L, Kissin M, et al.: Randomized multicenter trial of sentinel node biopsy versus standard axillary treatment in operable breast cancer: the ALMANAC Trial. J Natl Cancer Inst 2006, 98:599-609.
5. Krag DN, Anderson SJ, Julian TB, et al.: Technical outcomes of sentinel-lymph-node resection and conventional axillary-lymph-node dissection in patients with clinically node-negative breast cancer: results from the NSABP B-32 randomised phase III trial. Lancet Oncol 2007, 8:881-888.
6. Turner RR, Ollila DW, Krasne DL, et al.: Histologic validation of the sentinel lymph node hypothesis for breast carcinoma. Ann Surg 1997, 226:271-278.
7. Weaver DL, Krag DN, Ashikaga T, et al.: Pathologic analysis of sentinel and nonsentinel lymph nodes in breast carcinoma: a multicenter study. Cancer 2000, 88:1099-1107.
8. Giuliano AE, Dale PS, Turner RR, et al.: Improved staging of breast cancer with sentinel lymphadenectomy. Ann Surg 1995, 3:394-401.
9. Liberman L: Pathologic analysis of sentinel lymph nodes in breast carcinoma. Cancer 2000, 88:971-977.
10. Van Zee KJ, Manasseh DM, Bevilacqua JL, et al.: A nomo-gram for predicting the likelihood of additional nodal metastases in breast cancer patients with a positive sentinel node biopsy. Ann Surg Oncol 2003, 10:1140-1151.
11. Huvos AG, Hutter RV, Berg JW: Significance of axillary macrometastases and micrometastases in mammary cancer. Ann Surg 1971, 173:44-46.
12. Breast. In AJCC Cancer Staging Manual. Edited by Fleming ID, Cooper JS, Henson DE, et al. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven; 1997:171-178.
13. Greene FL, Page DL, Fleming ID, et al.: Breast. In AJCC Cancer Staging Manual. Edited by Greene FL, Page DL, Fleming ID, et al. New York: Springer; 2002:221-240.
14. Attiyeh FF, Jensen M, Huvos AG, et al.: Axillary microme-tastasis and macrometastasis in carcinoma of the breast. Surg Gynecol Obstet 1977, 144:839-842.
15. Rosen PP, Saigo PE, Bruan DW: Axillary micro and macro-metastases in breast cancer. Prognostic significance of tumor size. Ann Surg 1981, 194:585-591.
16. Fisher ER, Palekar A, Rockette H, et al.: Pathologic findings from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast Project (Protocol No. 4). V. Significance of axillary nodal micro-and macro-metastases. Cancer 1978, 42:2032-2038.
17. Colleoni M, Rotmensz N, Peruzzotti G, et al.: Size of breast cancer metastases in axillary lymph nodes: clinical relevance of minimal lymph node involvement. J Clin Oncol 2005, 23:1379-1389.
18. Cox CE, Kiluk JV, Riker AI, et al.: Significance of sentinel lymph node micrometastases in human breast cancer. J Am Coll Surg 2008, 206:261-268.
19. • Chen SL, Hoehne FM, Giuliano AE: The prognostic significance of micrometastases in breast cancer: a SEER population-based analysis. Ann Surg Oncol 2007, 14:3378-3384. A study of more than 200, 000 patients from the SEER database in which the authors show that the prognosis of pN1mi (< 2 mm) axillary lymph node metastases is intermediate between that of pN0 and pN1 disease.
20. Saphir O, Amromin GD: Obscure axillary lymph-node metastasis in carcinoma of the breast. Cancer 1948, 1:238-241.
21. Dowlatshahi K, Fan M, Snider HC, et al.: Lymph node micrometastases from breast carcinoma: reviewing the dilemma. Cancer 1997, 80:1188-1197.
22. Cote RJ, Peterson HF, Chaiwun B, et al.: Role of immuno-histochemical detection of lymph-node metastases in management of breast cancer. International Breast Cancer Study Group [see comments]. Lancet 1999, 354:896-900.
23. Umekita Y, Ohi Y, Sagara Y, et al.: Clinical significance of occult micrometastases in axillary lymph nodes in "node-negative" breast cancer patients. Jpn J Cancer Res 2002, 93:695-698.
24. Reed W, Bohler PJ, Sandstad B, et al.: Occult metastases in axillary lymph nodes as a predictor of survival in node-nega-tive breast carcinoma with long-term follow-up. Breast J 2004, 10:174-180.
25. Millis RR, Springall R, Lee AH, et al.: Occult axillary lymph node metastases are of no prognostic significance in breast cancer. Br J Cancer 2002, 86:396-401.
26. Cummings MC, Walsh MD, Hohn BG, et al.: Occult axillary lymph node metastases in breast cancer do matter: results of 10-year survival analysis. Am J Surg Pathol 2002, 26:1286-1295.
27. Kahn HJ, Hanna WM, Chapman JA, et al.: Biological significance of occult micrometastases in histologically negative axillary lymph nodes in breast cancer patients using the recent American Joint Committee on Cancer breast cancer staging system. Breast J 2006, 12:294-301.
28. • Tan LK, Giri D, Hummer AJ, et al.: Occult axillary node metastases in breast cancer are prognostically significant: results in 368 node-negative patients with 20-year follow-up. J Clin Oncol 2008, 26:1803-1809. A 20-year follow-up study in which the authors show that the prognostic significance of occult axillary lymph node metastases detected only by immunohistochemical staining, 98% of which were pN0i+ (< 0.2 mm), is intermediate between that of node-negative and H&E-detected disease.
29. Colpaert C, Vermeulen P, Jeuris W, et al.: Early distant relapse in "node-negative" breast cancer patients is not predicted by occult axillary lymph node metastases, but by the features of the primary tumour. J Pathol 2001, 193:442-449.
30. Susnik B, Frkovic-Grazio S, Bracko M: Occult micrometastases in axillary lymph nodes predict subsequent distant metastases in stage I breast cancer: a case-control study with 15-year follow-up. Ann Surg Oncol 2004, 11:568-572.
31. Braun S, Vogl FD, Naume B, et al.: A pooled analysis of bone marrow micrometastasis in breast cancer. N Engl J Med 2005, 353:793-802.
32. International (Ludwig) Breast Cancer Study Group: Prognostic importance of occult axillary lymph node micrometastases from breast cancers. Lancet 1990, 335:1565-1568.
33. Wilkinson EJ, Hause LL, Hoffman RG, et al.: Occult axillary lymph node metastases in invasive breast carcinoma: characteristics of the primary tumor and significance of the metastases. Pathol Annu 1982, 17:67-91.
34. Morton DL, Wen DR, Wong JH, et al.: Technical details of intraoperative lymphatic mapping for early stage melanoma. Arch Surg 1992, 127:392-399.
35. Alex JC, Krag DN: Gamma-probe guided localization of lymph nodes. Surg Oncol 1993, 2:137-143.
36. Giuliano AE, Kirgan DM, Guenther JM, et al.: Lymphatic mapping and sentinel lymphadenectomy for breast cancer. Ann Surg 1994, 220:391-401.
37. Cserni G, Gregori D, Merletti F, et al.: Meta-analysis of non-sentinel node metastases associated with micrometastatic sentinel nodes in breast cancer. Br J Surg 2004, 91:1245-1252.
38. Park J, Fey JV, Naik AM, et al.: A declining rate of completion axillary dissection in sentinel lymph node-positive breast cancer patients is associated with the use of a multivariate nomogram. Ann Surg 2007, 245:462-468.
39. Brogi E, Torres-Matundan E, Tan LK, et al.: The results of frozen section, touch preparation, and cytological smear are comparable for intraoperative examination of sentinel lymph nodes: a study in 133 breast cancer patients. Ann Surg Oncol 2005, 12:173-180.
40. Wilke LG, McCall LM, Posther KE, et al.: Surgical complications associated with sentinel lymph node biopsy: results from a prospective international cooperative group trial. Ann Surg Oncol 2006, 13:491-500.
41. Cserni G, Amendoeira I, Apostolikas N, et al.: Discrepancies in current practice of pathological evaluation of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer. Results of a questionnaire based survey by the European Working Group for Breast Screening Pathology. J Clin Pathol 2004, 57:695-701.
42. Cserni G, Bianchi S, Boecker W, et al.: Improving the reproducibility of diagnosing micrometastases and isolated tumor cells. Cancer 2005, 103:358-367.
43. Bleiweiss IJ, Nagi CS, Jaffer S: Axillary sentinel lymph nodes can be falsely positive due to iatrogenic displacement and transport of benign epithelial cells in patients with breast carcinoma. J Clin Oncol 2006, 24:2013-2018.
44. Carter BA, Jensen RA, Simpson JF, et al.: Benign transport of breast epithelium into axillary lymph nodes after biopsy. Am J Clin Pathol 2000, 113:259-265.
45. Moore KH, Thaler HT, Tan LK, et al.: Immunohistochemi-cally detected tumor cells in the sentinel lymph nodes of patients with breast carcinoma: biologic metastasis or procedural artifact? Cancer 2004, 100:929-934.
46. Wilke LG, Giuliano A: Sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with early-stage breast cancer: status of the National Clinical Trials. Surg Clin North Am 2003, 83:901-910.
47. Rutgers EJ, Meijnen P, Bonnefoi H: Clinical trials update of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Breast Cancer Group. Breast Cancer Res 2004; 6:165-169.
48. Rutgers EJT: Sentinel node biopsy: interpretation and management of patients with immunohistochemistry-posi-tive sentinel nodes and those with micrometastases. J Clin Oncol 2008, 26:698-702.
49. Neville AM: Breast cancer micrometastases in lymph nodes and bone marrow are prognostically important. Ann Oncol 1991, 2:13-14.
50. Trojani M, de Mascarel I, Coindre JM, Bonichon F: Micro-metastases to axillary lymph nodes from carcinoma of breast: detection by immunohistochemistry and prognostic significance. Br J Cancer 1987, 55:303-306.
51. De Mascarel I, Bonichon F, Coindre JM, et al.: Prognostic significance of breast cancer axillary lymph node microme-tastases assessed by two special techniques: reevaluation with longer follow-up. Br J Cancer 1992, 66:523-527.
52. Hainsworth PJ, Tjandra JJ, Stillwell RG, et al.: Detection and significance of occult metastases in node-negative breast cancer. Br J Surg 1993, 80:459-463.
53. McGuckin MA, Cummings MC, Walsh MD, et al.: Occult axillary node metastases in breast cancer: their detection and prognostic significance. Br J Cancer 1996, 73:88-95.
54. Nasser IA, Lee AK, Bosari S, et al.: Occult axillary lymph node metastases in "node-negative" breast carcinoma. Hum Pathol 1993, 24:950-957.