Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Breast Cancer Patients With Pathological Complete Response in the Axillary Lymph Node After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

PURPOSE: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) alone following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) remains controversial in patients with breast cancer who are initially lymph node-positive. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of SLNB and axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) on breast cancer recurrence and survival in patients who converted from lymph node-positive to pathological node-negative (ypN0) after NAC. METHODS: This single-center retrospective study included 223 patients who converted to axillary lymph node-negative status after NAC and underwent breast and axillary surgery between January 2006 and December 2015. This study compared the overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), ipsilateral axillary lymph node recurrence rates and incidence of postoperative complications, especially, arm lymphedema and shoulder stiffness between SLNB and ALND. RESULTS: < 0.001). CONCLUSION: As an alternative to ALND, SLNB has oncological safety in patients with axillary pathological complete response after NAC.