Sentinel node biopsy following neoadjuvant chemotherapy in biopsy proven node positive breast cancer: The SN FNAC study.

Abstract

1018 Background: A significant and increasing proportion of patients (>30%) with biopsy proven node positive breast cancer will obtain a pathological complete response (pCR) in the axilla after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). If sentinel node biopsy (SNB) can accurately identify these patients, they could potentially avoid the morbidity of an axillary node dissection. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the identification rate (IR), false negative rate (FNR) and accuracy of SNB in this setting. The accuracy of post NAC axillary ultrasound and clinical examination are evaluated as secondary endpoints. Methods: Patients with biopsy proven node positive breast cancer (T0-3, N1-2, M0) treated with NAC were eligible to participate in this multi-centre prospective trial. Following NAC, axillary ultrasound and clinical examination results were obtained. At time of surgery, all participants underwent both a SNB and a completion node dissection. A SNB IR greater than 90% and a FNR of less than 10% were pre-determined as being optimal. Results: From September 2009 to December 2012, 153 patients were accrued to the study. 7 patients were not eligible and 5 patients had not yet undergone surgery at the time of analysis. Axillary pCR rate = 34.0% (48/141). SNB IR = 87.2% (123/141), 95% CI [81.7%-92.7%] and FNR = 9.9% (8/81), 95% CI [3.4%-16.4%]. If only one sentinel node was removed, FNR = 19.0%(4/21); if there were 2 or more sentinel nodes, FNR = 6.6% (4/61) (p < 0.0001). Accuracy of SNB, axillary ultrasound and clinical examination were 93.5%, 63.2%, and 45.5% respectively. Conclusions: SNB following NAC in biopsy proven node positive breast cancer is associated with a suboptimal IR. FNR (less than 10%) and accuracy of SNB in this study are comparable to that of patients that present with clinically negative nodes. The FNR decreases when more than one sentinel node is identified. However, in an era where regional nodal radiation is increasingly used, the relevance of leaving residual disease in the undissected axilla after NAC is unknown and remains to be investigated. Clinical trial information: NCT00909441.