To do or not to do: axillary blockdissection after preoperative axillary ultrasound and aspiration cytology

Abstract

Background: According to international guidelines after positive preoperative axillary ultrasound (axUS) and axUS lymph node needle biopsy the axillary block dissection is recommended. More than half of the patients with preoperative US-guided biopsy proven axillary lymph node metastases had N1 disease. In these cases, the axillary block dissection is overtreatment. The purpose of our study was to investigate whether axUS and lymph node needle biopsy, combined with pathological and clinical factors could be used to identify axillary metastasis and preoperatively differentiate light versus nodal disease burden.