Axillary lymph node dissection represents the standard surgical treatment for breast cancer patients with clinically or histologically involved axillary lymph nodes. However, it is associated with significant morbidity, including postoperative arm lymphedema and neuropathy of the involved extremity, and seroma formation in the axilla (Noguchi et al., 1997). Particularly, arm lymphedema develops...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the performance and feasibility of sentinel lymph node biopsy in breast cancer patients using technetium-99m (99mTc) sulphur colloid and gamma probe. METHODS From May 2000 to March 2001, 70 patients with a tumour less than 5 cm with clinically negative axillary lymph nodes underwent sentinel node biopsy followed by standard axillary dissection. 99mTc sulphur colloid was ...

Axillary nodal status is the most important prognostic factor for patients with breast cancer. Clinical assessment and imaging modalities are not always reliable. Surgical removal and histopathological examination of axillary lymph nodes remain essential methods of staging the axilla and planning breast cancer therapy (Chu et al, 2010; Perry, 2001) But whether axillary lymph node dissection imp...

BACKGROUND The status of the axillary lymph nodes is an important factor in the prognosis and treatment of breast cancer. Extracapsular extension (ECE) is the spread of lymphatic tumor cells beyond the capsule of an axillary lymph node. Recent studies have demonstrated that ECE is a strongly unfavorable prognostic factor. OBJECTIVE In the present study, we investigated whether the rate of met...

BACKGROUND The object of this study was to examine whether a new protocol including step-sectioning and immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of axillary sentinel nodes (SN) would lead to detection of more metastases in patients with breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Sixty-nine tumor free sentinel lymph nodes were examined. Step frozen sectioning was performed on formalin fixed SN and staine...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the clinical significance of diffusion-weighted imaging in assessing the status of axillary lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer. METHODS We searched the PubMed, Cochrane, and EMBASE databases, selected studies by inclusion and exclusion criteria, and assessed the quality of selected studies. We explored the source of heteroge...

BACKGROUND In women with breast cancer, the role of radical mastectomy, as compared with less extensive surgery, has been a matter of debate. We report 25-year findings of a randomized trial initiated in 1971 to determine whether less extensive surgery with or without radiation therapy was as effective as the Halsted radical mastectomy. METHODS A total of 1079 women with clinically negative a...