Axillary lymph node staging is an important prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer. The long-term survival is poor if the number of metastatic axillary lymph nodes exceeds three. With 1-3 metastatic lymph nodes, survival in 30% of the patients is 20 years. The markedly different outcome of these patients with metastatic axillary lymph nodes suggests that other factors likely play a cr...

The status of axillary lymph nodes is a key prognostic indicator in patients with breast cancer and helps guide patient management. Sentinel lymph node biopsy is increasingly being used as a less morbid alternative to axillary lymph node dissection. However, when sentinel lymph node biopsy is positive, axillary dissection is typically performed for complete staging and local control. Axillary u...

BACKGROUND Ultrasound (US) is more sensitive than physical examination alone in determining axillary lymph node involvement during preliminary staging of breast carcinoma. Due to occasional overlap of sonographic features of benign and indeterminate lymph nodes, fine-needle aspiration (FNA) of sonographically indeterminate/suspicious lymph nodes can provide a more definitive diagnosis than US a...

BACKGROUND Recent studies have demonstrated that axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) does not affect patient survival, even in those with one or two positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs). On the other hand, patients with 3 or more metastatic lymph nodes are eligible for chemotherapy. Therefore, it is crucial to identify a priori patients at risk of having a high number of metastatic axillary l...

PURPOSE To assess prospectively the accuracy of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) in differentiating between metastatic and benign axillary lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS In all, 215 patients with histologically proven breast cancer, prior to axillary dissection, underwent breast and axillary 1.5 T MRI. In 102 patients in whom at least one ...

A 15-year-old boy presented with several months history of bilateral axillary lymph adenopathies which were ulcerated subsequently. He had received anti-tuberculosis therapy for more than six months based on suspicious diagnosis of scrofuloderma. Histopathologic examination confirmed the diagnosis of specific lesions of Hodgkin’s disease. These lesions were probably metastatic due to retrograde...

We report a case of a 75-year old man that came at hematologist’s attention for lymphoma evaluation due to axillary lymph node enlargement and fever. Thorax, abdomen and pelvis Contrast-Enhanced Computed Tomography (CECT) showed lymph nodes, spleen and liver lesions. Axillary lymph node biopsy was performed and the diagnosis of marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) at stage IV was postulated, then the p...

The main basin for breast lymphatic drainage is ipsilateral axilla. However, extra-axillary drainage may be seen in some patients. The most common extra-axillary site is internal mammary chain, while contralateral axillary drainage is an extremely rare situation in previously untreated patients. We describe a case of untreated right breast retroareolar carcinoma with contralateral axillary drai...