Sentinel node biopsy alone for breast cancer patients with residual nodal disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Evaluating Magnetic Seed Localization in Targeted Axillary Dissection for Node-Positive Early Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy: A Comprehensive Review and Pooled Analysis

Background/Objectives: De-escalation of axillary surgery is made possible by advancements in both neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) and in localisation technology for breast lesions. Magseed®, developed in 2013 by Dr. Michael Douk of Cambridge, United Kingdom, is a wire-free localisation technology that facilitates the localisation and retrieval of lymph nodes for staging. Targeted axillary dissection (TAD), which entails marked lymph node biopsy (MLNB) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), has emerged as the preferred method to assess residual disease in post-NST node-positive patients. This systematic review and pooled analysis evaluate the performance of Magseed® in TAD. Methods: The search was carried out in PubMed and Google Scholar. An assessment of localisation, retrieval rates, concordance between MLNB and SLNB, and pathological complete response (pCR) in clinically node-positive patients post NST was undertaken. Results: Nine studies spanning 494 patients and 497 procedures were identified, with a 100% successful deployment rate, a 94.2% (468/497) [95% confidence interval (CI), 93.7-94.7] localisation rate, a 98.8% (491/497) retrieval rate, and a 68.8% (247/359) [95% CI 65.6-72.0] concordance rate. pCR was observed in 47.9% (220/459) ) [95% CI 43.3-52.6] of cases. Subgroup analysis of studies reporting the pathological status of MLNB and SLNB separately revealed an FNR of 4.2% for MLNB and 17.6% for SLNB (p = 0.0013). Mean duration of implantation was 37 days (range: 0-188). Conclusions: These findings highlight magnetic seed localisation's efficacy in TAD for NST-treated node-positive patients, aiding in accurate axillary pCR identification and safe de-escalation of axillary surgery in excellent responders.

Evaluating Radar Reflector Localisation in Targeted Axillary Dissection in Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy for Node-Positive Early Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Pooled Analysis

SAVI SCOUT® or radar reflector localisation (RRL) has proven accurate in localising non-palpable breast and axillary lesions, with minimal interference with MRI. Targeted axillary dissection (TAD), combining marked lymph node biopsy (MLNB) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), is becoming a standard post-neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) for node-positive early breast cancer. Compared to SLNB alone, TAD reduces the false negative rate (FNR) to below 6%, enabling safer axillary surgery de-escalation. This systematic review evaluates RRL's performance during TAD, assessing localisation and retrieval rates, the concordance between MLNB and SLNB, and the pathological complete response (pCR) in clinically node-positive patients post-NST. Four studies (252 TAD procedures) met the inclusion criteria, with a 99.6% (95% confidence [CI]: 98.9-100) successful localisation rate, 100% retrieval rate, and 81% (95% CI: 76-86) concordance rate between SLNB and MLNB. The average duration from RRL deployment to surgery was 52 days (range:1-202). pCR was observed in 42% (95% CI: 36-48) of cases, with no significant migration or complications reported. Omitting MLNB or SLNB would have under-staged the axilla in 9.7% or 3.4% (p = 0.03) of cases, respectively, underscoring the importance of incorporating MLNB in axillary staging post-NST in initially node-positive patients in line with the updated National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. These findings underscore the excellent efficacy of RRL in TAD for NST-treated patients with positive nodes, aiding in accurate axillary pCR identification and the safe omission of axillary dissection in strong responders.

Omission of Axillary Dissection in Node Positive Breast Cancer After Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy

INTRODUCTION

Guidelines recommend axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) for ypN + positive patients as patients receiving neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) were excluded from trials omitting ALND in pN + patients. We sought to characterize trends in omission of ALND in patients with ypN + disease.

METHODS

Adult women with invasive breast carcinoma in the National Cancer Database between 2012 and 2019 who received NST (chemotherapy or endocrine) and had ypN + disease were included. Patients were excluded if they did not have definitive surgery within eight months of diagnosis. The primary study outcome was completion of ALND versus omission. Differences in demographics, tumor characteristics, and treatment were identified using bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models.

RESULTS

In total, 103,121 women were included. Most had cT1 (26%) or cT2 (45%) tumors, cN + disease (71%), and ductal histology (83%). 69% of patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 31% neoadjuvant endocrine without chemotherapy (30% both). ALND was performed in 77% of patients. Omission of ALND became more prevalent each year from 2012 (14%) to 2019 (34%). On multivariate modeling, year of diagnosis, black race, cN status, higher grade, estrogen receptor+/HER2-receptor subtype, and mastectomy were associated with increased prevalence of ALND. Age, Charlson/Deyo comorbidity index score, endocrine versus chemotherapy, and adjuvant radiation were not associated with receipt of ALND.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite guidelines recommending ALND, omission is common in patients with ypN + breast cancer after NST. Omission of ALND increased significantly over time and is associated with clinical and demographic factors. Future study is needed to determine the oncologic safety of this approach.

Impact of axillary surgery on outcome of clinically node positive breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy

PURPOSE

Axillary Lymph Node Dissection (ALND) is recommended for breast cancer patients who present with clinically node positive disease (cN1) especially if they have residual nodal disease (ypN+) following neoadjuvant therapy (NAT). It is unknown whether axillary dissection improves outcome for these patients.

METHODS

A prospectively maintained database was used to identify all patients who were diagnosed with cTis-T4N1M0 breast cancer treated with NAT.

RESULTS

In our study, of 292 cN1 breast cancer patients who received NAT, we compared ALND with targeted axillary surgery (TAS) in ypN+ patients. ALND was performed in 75% of the ypN+ subgroup, while 25% underwent TAS. Axillary recurrence occurred in four ALND patients, but no recurrence was observed in the TAS group (p = 0.21). Five-year axillary recurrence-free survival was 100% for TAS and 90% for ALND (p = 0.21). Overall survival at five years was 97% for TAS and 85% for ALND (p = 0.39). Disease-free survival rates at five years were 51% for TAS and 61% for ALND (p = 0.9). Clinicopathological variables were similar between the groups, although some differences were noted. ALND patients had smaller clinical tumor size, larger pathological tumor size, more lymph nodes retrieved, larger tumor deposits, higher rates of extranodal extension, and greater prevalence of macrometastatic nodal disease. Tumor subtype and size of lymph node tumor deposit independently predicted survival.

CONCLUSION

Axillary recurrence is infrequent in cN1 patients treated with NAT. Our study found that ALND did not reduce the occurrence of axillary recurrence or enhance overall survival. It is currently uncertain which patients benefit from axillary dissection.

Axillary response and outcome in breast cancer patients after neoadjuvant treatment: The role of radiotherapy in reducing recurrence in ypN0 patients with initially cN+ stage

Objective

We aim to explore the clinicopathological features associated with axillary node response and recurrence in breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant treatment (NAT).

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 486 stage I to III breast cancer patients who received NAT and surgery between 2016 and 2021.

Results

A total of 486 cases were reviewed and 154 (31.7%) patients achieved breast pathological complete response (pCR) (ypT0/Tis). Of the 366 cases with initially cN+, 177 (48.4%) cases reach ypN0. Breast pCR is in high accordance to axillary pCR (81.5%). Hormone receptor (HR)-/HER2+ breast cancer patients have the highest axillary pCR rate (78.3%). Patients achieve axillary pCR have a significantly better disease-free survival (DFS) (P=0.0004). Further analysis reveals that the DFS of ypN0 and ypN1 cases are similar (P=0.9049). Moreover, DFS in patients with ypN0 (P<0.0001) and ypN1 (P<0.0001) is significantly better than that in patients with ypN2-3. For post-mastectomy ypN0 cases, radiation could only improve DFS in patients with initially cN+ stage (P=0.0499). Multivariate Cox regression analysis shows that radiation is an independent factor to improve DFS (Hazard ratio (HR): 0.288(0.098-0.841), P=0.0230). Radiation does not improve DFS in pre-cN0/ypN0 patients (P=0.1696).

Conclusion

Axillary pCR rate is higher than breast pCR rate. HR-/HER2+ patients have the highest axillary pCR rate. Axillary pCR is associated with better DFS. Radiation could further improve DFS in ypN0 patients with initially positive nodal disease.

Omission of axillary lymph node dissection in patients with ypN+ breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: A retrospective multicenter study (KROG 21-06)

BACKGROUND

We evaluated the impact of omitting axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) on oncological outcomes in breast cancer patients with residual nodal disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).

METHODS

The medical records of patients who underwent NAC followed by surgical resection and had residual nodal disease were retrospectively reviewed. In total, 1273 patients from 12 institutions were included; all underwent postoperative radiotherapy. Axillary surgery consisted of ALND in 1103 patients (86.6%) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNBx) alone in 170 (13.4%). Univariate and multivariate analyses of disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were performed before and after propensity score matching (PSM).

RESULTS

The median follow-up was 75.3 months (range, 2.5-182.7). Axillary recurrence rates were 4.8% in the ALND group (n = 53) and 4.7% in the SLNBx group (n = 8). Before PSM, univariate analysis indicated that the 5-year OS rate was inferior in the ALND group compared to the SLNBx group (86.6% vs. 93.3%, respectively; P = 0.002); multivariate analysis did not show a difference between groups (P = 0.325). After PSM, 258 and 136 patients were included in the ALND and SLNBx groups, respectively. There were no significant differences between the ALND and SLNBx groups in DFS (5-year rate, 75.8% vs. 76.9%, respectively; P = 0.406) or OS (5-year rate, 88.7% vs. 93.1%, respectively; P = 0.083).

CONCLUSIONS

SLNBx alone did not compromise oncological outcomes in patients with residual nodal disease after NAC. The omission of ALND might be a possible option for axillary management in patients treated with NAC and postoperative radiotherapy.

Level I axillary dissection in patients with breast cancer and tumor-involved sentinel lymph node after NAC is not sufficient for adequate nodal staging

Objectives

The purpose of the study was to investigate the oncological sufficiency of level I axillary dissection for adequate histological nodal staging (ypN) in patients with breast cancer and tumor-involved sentinel lymph node (SLN) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).

Material and Methods

A prospective multicentre pilot study took place from 01.01.2018 to 30.11.2020 in three mammary centres in the Czech Republic in patients with breast cancer after NAC (NCT03556397). Patients in the cohort with positive histological frozen section of SLN were indicated to separate axillary dissection of levels I and II.

Results

Sixty-one patients with breast cancer after NAC were included in the study according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Twelve patients with breast cancer and tumour involved SLN after NAC were further included in the analysis. Two (16.7%) patients had positive non-sentinel lymph nodes in level I only, one (8.3%) patient had positive lymph nodes in level II only, and seven (58.3%) patients had positive lymph nodes in both levels. Level I axillary dissection in a patient with tumour involved SLN after NAC would have resulted in understaging in five (41.7%) patients, mostly ypN1 instead of ypN2.

Conclusion

According to our pilot result, level I axillary dissection is not sufficient in terms of adequate histological nodal staging in breast cancer patients after NAC, and level II axillary dissection should not be omitted.

Diagnostic accuracy of de-escalated surgical procedure in axilla for node-positive breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant systemic therapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

More initial clinical node-positive breast cancer patients achieve axillary pathological complete response (ax-pCR) after neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST). Restaging axillary status and performing de-escalated surgical procedures to replace routine axillary lymph nodes dissection (ALND) is urgently needed. Targeted axillary lymph node biopsy (TLNB) is a novel de-escalated surgical strategy marking metastatic axillary nodes before NST and targeted dissection and biopsy intraoperatively to tailor individual axillary management.

METHODS

This study provided a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the feasibility and diagnosis accuracy of TLNB. Prospective and retrospective clinical trials on TLNB were searched from Pubmed, Embase, and Cochrane. Identification rate (IFR), false-negative rate (FNR), negative predictive value (NPV), and rate of ax-pCR were the outcomes of this meta-analysis.

RESULTS

One thousand nine hundred and twenty patients attempted TLNB, with an overall IFR of 93.5% (95% confidence interval [CI] 90.1%-96.2%). IFR of three nodal marking methods, namely iodine seeds, clips, and carbon dye, was 95.6% (95% CI 91.2%-98.7%), 91.7% (95% CI 87.3%-95.4%), and 97.1% (95% CI 89.1%-100.0%), respectively. Of them, 847 patients received ALND, with an overall FNR of 5.5% (95% CI 3.3%-8.0%), and NPV ranged from 90.1% to 96.1%. Regression analysis showed that the overlap of targeted and sentinel biopsied nodes might associate with IFRs and FNRs.

CONCLUSION

TLNB is a novel, less invasive surgical approach to distinguish initial node-positive breast cancer that achieves negative axillary conversion after NST. It yields an excellent IFR with a low FNR and a high NPV. A combination of preoperative imaging, intraoperative TLNB with SLNB, and postoperative nodal radiotherapy might affect the future treatment paradigm of primary breast cancer with nodal metastases.