Body Mass Index, Clinical Assessment and Occult Axillary Lymph Node Metastasis in Breast Carcinoma

Background: Breast carcinoma (BC) is among the most common carcinomas in females with changing treatment modalities. The high body mass index (BMI) in clinically node negative (cN0) obese patients is associated with decreased accuracy of clinical axillary lymph node (ALN) examination and occult heavy disease burden of carcinoma breast. Methods: This study was aimed to assess the significance of BMI on clinical axillary examination of lymph nodes of BC with cN0 status and also to analyze the impact of high BMI on lymph node metastatic burden. The cN0 and lymph node metastatic burden status was correlated with BMI of BC patients, and data obtained was analyzed statistically. Results: A total of 30 female patients of BC with cN0 status were recruited and categorized into three groups as per BMI, G0-underweight, <18.5; G1-normal weight, 18.5-24.9; G2-overweight, 25-29.9 and were correlated with clinical axillary examination of lymph nodes and metastatic burden microscopically. The data was analysed by using appropriate standard statistical tests. The p value more than 0.05 was considered to be insignificant. The BMI of the patients varied between 22 and 28. Upon clinical examination, all patients were node negative; histopathological examination revealed more cases with metastatic deposits in the G1 than G2 group. Conclusion: The study concluded no effect of BMI on clinical examination of axillary lymph nodes, and high BMI was not associated with high metastatic ALN burden.