Axillary recurrence following negative sentinel lymph node biopsy for symptomatic invasive breast cancer: A ten-year review

Abstract

Aims: Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) became established as the standard approach (versus axillary clearance) for axillary staging in the 2000s. This was based on studies showing reductions in short-term morbidity. Symptomatic cancers are biologically more aggressive than screen-detected cancers and are more susceptible to late loco-regional recurrence. Few studies have examined long-term axillary recurrence following SNBs in this subgroup.