Preoperative Axillary Staging Research Articles

Determination of axillary lymph node status by fine-needle aspiration: preoperative axillary staging vs. postoperative surveillance for breast cancers.

Despite the common use of ultrasound (US)-guided fine-needle aspiration (FNA) for axillary node (AN) in breast cancer patients, only a limited number of studies are available regarding the diagnostic performance of AN-FNA according to the suspicion level based on US findings. This study compares the outcomes of US-guided AN-FNA in breast cancer patients, differentiating between those undergoing staging and surveillance. A cross-sectional retrospective study with retrospective analysis was conducted on 767 consecutive AN-FNA procedures performed in 2017 at Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, with 654 for staging and 113 for surveillance in breast cancer patients. The radiologists performed axillary US and the specific finding was prospectively classified into the AN-reporting and data system (AN-RADS) category 3-5 before FNA. The malignancy rate of each category was evaluated. The chi-square test, with or without Bonferroni correction, or Fisher's exact test was used to compare the malignancy rates between the staging and surveillance groups for each category. Among the 767 AN-FNAs, 424 (55.3%) were malignant. The malignancy rate was significantly higher in the staging group (59.5%) than in the surveillance group (31.0%, P<0.0001). The distribution of AN-RADS categories differed between the groups (P=0.015), with 4A being the most common. The malignancy rates in categories 3, 4A, 4B, 4C, and 5 were as follows: 5.6%, 36.0%, 77.4%, 87.7%, and 98.4% in the staging group, and 0.0%, 9.7%, 53.3%, 88.9%, and 100% in the surveillance group. The malignancy rate was significantly different between the two groups only in category 4A (P=0.0001). AN-FNA according to AN-RADS category appears to be an appropriate method for determination of axillary nodal status. Overall malignancy rate of AN-FNA in breast cancer patients was higher in the staging group than in the surveillance group. According to the suspicion level, the difference between two groups was significant only in category 4A.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Ultrasonography in Axillary Staging in Breast Cancer Patients.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting women all over the world and represents 7% of all cancer-related deaths in the UK. One of the most crucial elements in assessing a patient's prognosis and chance of survival with breast cancer is the condition of their axillary lymph nodes. Ultrasonography (US) is now used as a routine preoperative diagnostic tool for pretherapeutic axillary evaluation. The aim of the current study is to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of US in axillary staging in breast cancer patients. We carried out this retrospective study for all invasive breast cancer patients who had surgery in addition to preoperative axillary staging using US during the period from January 2020 to February 2021. The final histology results were compared with the preoperative US findings to ascertain the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of AUS in axillary staging. One hundred and twenty-eight patients were included in our study. The average age of diagnosis was 63.9 ± 12.3 years of age. We calculated sensitivity rate of 59.6%, specificity rate of 95.1%, positive predictive value of 87.5%, and negative predictive value of 80.2% with overall diagnostic accuracy of 82.2%. Despite the important role of preoperative US in axillary staging in breast cancer patients; it failed to detect metastatic diseases in 14.8% of our patients. These findings necessitate the routine histological evaluation of the axilla for more accurate staging of the disease.

274 (PB-098) Poster - False-Negative Rates Between Pathological Lymph Node Status Between Ductal and Lobular Breast Cancer: A Retrospective Cohort Study of 83,152 Patients

Background: Preoperative axillary staging with physical examination and/or an axillary ultrasound to assess clinical lymph node status (cN) may have different false negative rates between common histological subtypes of breast cancer. The aim of this retrospective study was to quantify and compare the false-negative rates of a cN0 stage between patients with Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC) and Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC).

Micropapillary Breast Carcinoma: From Molecular Pathogenesis to Prognosis.

Invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) of the breast is an infrequent type of breast cancer often discussed for its potency for lymphovascular invasion and difficulty in accurate imaging estimation. Micropapillary carcinomas are noted to be present as larger tumors, of higher histological grade and a notably higher percentage of disease-positive lymph nodes. Hormonal and HER-2 positivity in IMPC is also commoner when compared to other NST carcinomas. IMPC occurs either as a pure form or more often as a component of mixed Non-Specific Type (NST) carcinoma. The latest data suggest that despite having comparable survival rates to other histological subtypes of breast carcinoma, effective surgical treatment often requires extended surgical margins and vigilant preoperative axillary staging due to an increased incidence of lymph node invasion, and locoregional recurrence. Moreover, the presence of micropapillary in situ components within tumors also seems to alter tumor aggression and influence the nodal disease stage. In this review, we present an overview of the current literature of micropapillary carcinoma of the breast from biology to prognosis, focusing on biological differences and treatment.

The validity and clinical utility of axillary ultrasonography-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy in detection of nodal metastasis in early-stage breast cancer patients: a retrospective single-center experience.

Assessing the validity and clinical utility of axillary ultrasonography (AUS)-guided fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in detection of nodal metastasis during preoperative axillary investigation in comparison to the histopathologic diagnosis in early-stage breast cancer. A total of 279 operated primary breast cancer patients (age: 55.3 ± 12.8, ranged 17-90 years) were included. Data on AUS findings at the time of initial diagnosis (first look AUS), second-look AUS findings performed by the breast radiologist during breast biopsy procedure and the AUS-guided FNAB findings were evaluated with respect to the final histopathology report obtained through axillary surgery via sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and/or axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). The diagnostic performance of each method in detecting metastatic ALNs were compared in terms of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the first look AUS in detecting nodal metastasis were 64.56%, 86.78%, and 74.19% while the PPV and NPV were 86.44% and 65.22%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the second-look AUS were 70.25%, 87.60%, and 77.78%, while PPV and NPV were 88.10% and 69.28%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of the second-look AUS guided FNAB were 89.19%, 73.33%, and 87.30%, while the PPV and NPV were 96.12% and 47.83%, respectively. The consideration of second-look AUS and finding of nodal metastasis in FNAB was associated with significantly higher likelihood of ALND (55.4% vs. 44.6%, p < 0.001) and lower likelihood of SLNB (34.7% vs. 65.3%, p < 0.001) compared to consideration of nonmetastatic ALN status. In 23 (22.3%) patients with positive findings on AUS-guided FNAB, SLNB was applied; 21 had positive results after surgical dissection, indicating that nearly 20% of patients had unnecessary SLNB. US-guided FNAB of suspicious ALNs is a simple, minimally invasive, and highly effective method for preoperative axillary staging in patients with invasive breast cancer avoiding the more invasive method SLNB and it enables the surgeon to proceed directly to ALND in positive cases.

Preoperative axillary nodal staging of invasive lobular breast cancer with ultrasound guided fine needle aspiration in patients with suspicious ultrasound findings versus aspiration in all patients – A retrospective single institutional analysis

Introduction– At present, surgical strategies for breast cancer patients with >2 lymph nodes (LN) involved differ from those with no or lower degree of nodal involvement. Preoperative assessment of the axilla is less sensitive in patients with lobular carcinoma (ILC) than patients with other histological tumour types. Materials and methods– A retrospective analysis of axillary staging by palpation, axillary ultrasound (AXUS) and AXUS-guided fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of 153 patients with ILC diagnosed and operated on between January 2013 and December 2020 was performed. Patients had either sentinel node biopsy or axillary lymph node dissection according to current practice. In period 1, patients had FNAC only when AXUS suggested nodal involvement (n = 106), and in period 2, all ILC patients had axillary FNAC (n = 47). Results– Of the factors associated with >2LNs involvement, logistic regression suggested only AXUS/FNAC based staging as independent variable for all patients. Patients with AXUS-guided FNAC had a significantly higher proportion of true negative and lower proportion of true positive cases in the P2 period (0 vs 55% and 72% vs 11% for >2 LNs involvement, respectively; both p < 0.0001). Conclusions– AXUS-guided FNAC of all ILC patients did not result in improved preoperative identification of patients with >2 metastatic LNs but increased the false-negative rate of the assessment by producing false-negative results in patients who would not have undergone a biopsy due to negative AXUS findings.

Diagnostic Values of 8 Different Imaging Modalities for Preoperative Detection of Axillary Lymph Node Metastasis of Breast Cancer: A Bayesian Network Meta-analysis.

This study aimed to compare diagnostic performances of 8 different imaging modalities for preoperative detection of axillary lymph node (LN) metastasis in patients with breast cancer by performing a network meta-analysis (NMA) using direct comparison studies with 2 or more imaging techniques. PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase were searched for the studies evaluating the performances of 8 different imaging modalities for preoperative axillary LN staging in patients with breast cancer. The NMA was performed in patient-based analyses. The consistency was evaluated by examining the agreement between direct and indirect treatment effects, and publication bias was assessed by funnel plot asymmetry tests. The surface under the cumulative ranking curve (SUCRA) values were obtained to calculate the probability of each imaging modality being the most effective diagnostic method. A total of 2197 patients from 22 direct comparison studies using 8 different imaging modalities for preoperative detection of axillary LN metastasis in patients with breast cancer were included. For preoperative detection of axillary LN metastasis of breast cancer, elastography showed the highest SUCRA values of sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, accuracy, and diagnostic odds ratio. In addition, fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) or PET/computed tomography, fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose PET/magnetic resonance, and contrast-enhanced computed tomography showed high SUCRA values. Elastography showed the highest SUCRA values. Seven imaging modalities showed the complementary diagnostic roles for preoperative detection of axillary LN metastasis in patients with breast cancer, except mammography.

P04. Pre-operative axillary staging in invasive lobular cancer: A retrospective series

Introduction: Accurate preoperative staging of the axillary lymph nodes (ALN) in breast cancer is crucial to inform surgical approach to the axilla. Invasive lobular cancer (ILC) is particularly challenging in this prospect both radiologically and cytologically.

Sentinel lymph node biopsy with one-step nucleic acid assay relegates the need for preoperative ultrasound-guided biopsy staging of the axilla in patients with early stage breast cancer.

Avoiding axillary node clearance in patients with early stage breast cancer and low-burden node-positive axillary disease is an emerging practice. Informing the decision to adopt axillary conservation is examined by comparing routine preoperative axillary staging using ultrasound (AUS) ± AUS biopsy (AUSB) with intraoperative staging using sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and a one-step nucleic acid cytokeratin-19 amplification assay (OSNA). A single-centre, retrospective cohort study of 1,315 consecutive new diagnoses of breast cancer in 1,306 patients was undertaken in the present study. An AUS ± AUSB was performed on all patients as part of their initial assessment. Patients who had a normal ultrasound (AUS-) or negative biopsy (AUSB-) followed by SLNB with OSNA ± axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), and those with a positive AUSB (AUSB+), were assessed. Tests for association were determined using a χ2 and Fisher's Exact test. A total of 266 (20.4%) patients with cT1-3 cN0 staging received 271 AUSBs. Of these, 205 biopsies were positive and 66 were negative. The 684 patients with an AUS-/AUSB-assessment proceeded to SLNB with OSNA. AUS sensitivity and negative predictive value (NPV) were 0.53 [0.44-0.62; 95% confidence interval (CI)] and 0.58 (0.53-0.64, 95% CI), respectively. Using a total tumour load cut-off of 15,000 copies/µl to predict ≥2 macro-metastases, the sensitivity and NPV for OSNA were 0.82 (0.71-0.92, 95% CI) and 0.98 (0.97-0.99, 95% CI) (OSNA vs. AUS P<0.0001). Of the AUSB+ patients, 51% had ≤2 positive nodes following ALND and were potentially over-treated. Where available, SLNB with OSNA should replace AUSB for axillary assessment in cT1-2 cN0 patients with ≤2 indeterminate nodes seen on AUS.

Impact of BMI on Preoperative Axillary Ultrasound Assessment in Patients With Early Breast Cancer.

The accuracy of axillary ultrasound (AUS) with fine-needle aspiration with varying patient body mass index (BMI) is still unclear. The aim of our study was to evaluate whether the US features of axillary lymph nodes changes with BMI of patients. A retrospective review was performed involving 144 out of 270 patients with early breast cancer who underwent breast surgery with sentinel lymph node biopsy. Diagnostic efficacy of AUS in preoperative axillary nodal staging was assessed in relation to BMI. Negative predictive values of AUS for the overweight and obese groups were statistically significantly lower compared to the normal/underweight group (p=0.02 and p=0.003, respectively). Additionally, Spearman's correlation coefficient R between BMI and positive sentinel lymph node biopsy was 0.257, suggesting a significantly positive linear relationship between the two variables in the cohort overall. Our results demonstrate how in our cohort the negative predictive value of AUS was significantly influenced by adipose tissue and that the selection of the most suitable instrumental diagnostic technique might contribute to improving heterogeneous results.

Association between negative preoperative axillary node staging and surgical sentinel node biopsy in patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer: A retrospective analysis.

The aim of this retrospective study was to analyse the preoperative ultrasound findings in patients with minimal or almost no morphological changes of axillary lymph nodes (LN) and to correlate these findings with the results of sentinel node (SN) biopsy. Between January 2014 and September 2018, 289 female patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer and negative preoperative axillary staging were examined with preoperative ultrasound evaluation of axillary LNs. Patients with no evidence of LN metastases underwent primary surgical treatment with SN biopsy. Negative predictive value (NPV) of preoperative ultrasound was evaluated and the histopathological findings in positive SN biopsies were correlated with tumour type and preoperative ultrasound LN imaging. Of 289 patients with negative preoperative axillary staging who had primary surgical treatment, 268 patients had negative SN biopsy while SN metastases were detected in 21 patients. Of patients with positive SN biopsies, 2 patients had negative core biopsy of axillary LN before surgery. The preoperative ultrasound examination was negative in the remaining 19 patients with SN metastases. Preoperative ultrasonography is very accurate in the detecting of axillary LN metastases. Patients with primary tumour size ≥ 1 cm, with grade ≥ 2 no special type carcinomas (NST - no special type, also known as invasive ductal carcinoma) or multicentric lobular invasive cancer should undergo a more thorough ultrasound evaluation.

Abstract P4-02-11: Can preoperative axillary staging replace sentinel node biopsy? Comparison of preoperative axillary and final histologic nodal findings in 2108 patients with primary breast cancer

Abstract Background Axillary staging is an integral part of the preoperative work-up in patients with breast cancer. Given the increasing number of patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC) and current guidelines to perform sentinel-node biopsy after the completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, axillary staging has gained more importance. Beside the prediction of nodal involvement, correct prediction of nodal stage is crucial in order to select respective treatment for the patients. Materials and Methods Patients treated for primary breast cancer from 01/2013 to 01/2018 and received preoperative sonografic axillary staging and surgery were identified from the breast databases of two large volume hospitals. In case of sonografic suspicion of nodal involvement an axillary biopsy was performed. Accuracy of axillary staging was examined regarding the concordance between prediction of nodal involvement and nodal (N) stage with final pathology. A multivariate model was used to identify factors associated with a high accuracy of axillary sonografic staging. Results Among 2220 patients, 112 were excluded due to incomplete clinical data or axillary surgery after completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy leaving 2108 patients for final analysis. 1535 (73 %) showed a N0 stage on final pathology. Accuracy of axillary staging regarding prediction of nodal involvement was 92 % (1929/2108) with a sensitivity of 80 % and a specificity of 96 %, a positive predictive value of 88 % and a negative predictive of 93 %. Prediction of nodal stage was correct in 1894 of 2018 cases (90 %). Concordance between sonografic prediction of N stage and final pathology decreased with higher nodal stages (N0 - 91 %, N1 84 %, N2 81 %, N3 68 %) and was higher in node negative patients (91 %) compared to node positive patients (86 %; p ≤ 0.05). On multivariate analysis the presence of nodal involvement was the only factor associated with concordance of axillary staging and pathologic nodal stage (OR 0.11 (95 %CI 0.08 - 0.16) p ≤ 0.01). Conclusion In this large population of patients with primary breast cancer, we showed a high accuracy of preoperative axillary staging with respect to nodal involvement and prediction of respective N stage. With a negative predictive value of 93 % regarding node negativity, axillary staging showed accurate outcomes but improvements in sensitivity are necessary in oder to compete with sentinel node biopsy. Citation Format: Julia Caroline Radosa, Martin Deeken, Lisa Stotz, Sarah Huwer, Carolin Müller, Rosemarie Weinmann, Christoph G Radosa, Marc P Radosa, Stefan Wagenpfeil, Erich-Franz Solomayer. Can preoperative axillary staging replace sentinel node biopsy? Comparison of preoperative axillary and final histologic nodal findings in 2108 patients with primary breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2019 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2019 Dec 10-14; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P4-02-11.

Comparison of Ultrasound-Guided Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology and Ultrasound-Guided Core Biopsy in Preoperative Axillary Staging for Early Breast Cancer

Current national guidance supports the use of either ultrasound-guided core biopsy (USCB) or ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration cytology (USFNAC) to detect preoperatively axillary lymph node involvement in early breast cancer but does not support one over the other. To compare the accuracy of USFNAC to USCB in diagnosing axillary lymph node metastasis in early-stage breast cancer in our symptomatic breast care unit. Historical case series data for patients from November 2007 to May 2012 was analysed. Our study included newly diagnosed, symptomatic, clinically node-negative breast cancers. Women with screen-detected breast cancer, those who had breast staging by magnetic resonance imaging, those unfit for surgery and those with locally advanced cancers were excluded. GE Logic E9 and Philips ultrasound machines were used for the study. A total of 1213 axillary ultrasound scans were performed during the period of the study. Four hundred eighty-eight women were eligible for the study with a mean age of 57.8 years. Eighty-three (17%) had USFNAC, 116 (23.7%) had USCB and 289 (59.2%) had normal/benign US features. The sensitivity and specificity of USFNAC were 58% and 100%, respectively. For USCB, sensitivity and specificity were 82% and 100%, respectively, and for US alone, sensitivity and specificity were 50% and 77%, respectively. We support the routine use of USCB over USFNAC for women who have breast cancer with indeterminate or suspicious axillary involvement on ultrasound, due to its greater accuracy.

Preoperative axillary lymph node staging in early breast cancer: Diagnostic efficacy and histopathology correlation.

Preoperative axillary lymph node staging in early breast cancer: Diagnostic efficacy and histopathology correlation.

Preoperative axillary nodal staging with ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging: predictive values of quantitative and semantic features.

Although axillary imaging has recently received renewed interest for preoperative staging in tandem with the evolving minimally invasive surgical approaches, axillary imaging is limited by the lack of standardization in the interpretation. We aimed to classify imaging features in ultrasound and MRI into quantitative and semantic features and evaluate predictive value of each feature for predicting nodal metastases. A total of 316 breast cancers patients who underwent ultrasound and MRI prior to axillary surgery were included. Retrospective reviews of our breastimaging database were done for the quantitative features [cortical thickness (CT) and CT-derived parameters, long diameter (LD), short diameter (SD), and LD/SD ratio] and semantic features (eccentricity, loss of fatty hilum, and irregularity) of the axillary lymph node in images. Odd ratios (ORs) for each imaging feature were calculated with adjustment for clinicopathological characteristics significantly associated with nodal metastases. All CT-derived parameters were significantly associated with nodal metastases in both ultrasound and MRI (OR, 3.3-3.5 for ultrasound and 3.3-3.9 for MRI, respectively; Ps < .05). For the ultrasound, LD/SD ratio (OR, 2.1), eccentricity (OR, 2.4), and fatty hilum loss (OR, 27.2) were significantly associated with nodal metastases (Ps < .05). For the MRI, SD (OR, 2.1) and eccentricity (OR, 3.0) were significantly associated with nodal metastases (Ps < .05). Among the quantitative features, all CT-derived parameters can be used for predicting nodal metastases. Significant predictors of semantic features were heterogeneous between ultrasound and MRI. (1) Imaging features of ultrasound and MRI for preoperative axillary nodal staging can be classified into quantitative and semantic features. (2) Predictive values of each imaging features are heterogeneous for predicting nodal metastases.

Population-based study of the sensitivity of axillary ultrasound imaging in the preoperative staging of node-positive invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast

Preoperative staging of the axilla is important to allow decisions regarding neoadjuvant treatment and the management of the axilla. Invasive lobular carcinoma metastases are difficult to detect because of the infiltrative pattern of the nodal spread. In this study the sensitivity of preoperative axillary staging between invasive lobular (ILC) and ductal (IDC) carcinoma was compared. All women diagnosed with pure ILC or IDC in the West of Scotland in 2012-2014 were identified from a database maintained prospectively within the Managed Clinical Network. Pretreatment axillary ultrasound imaging (AUS), core biopsy and fine-needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) results were compared between ILC and IDC. Some 602 women with ILC and 4199 with IDC had undergone axillary surgery, of whom 209 and 1402 respectively had nodal metastases. Pretreatment AUS sensitivity was significantly lower in ILC than in IDC (32·1 versus 50·1 per cent respectively, P < 0·001; OR 0·47, 95 per cent c.i. 0·34 to 0·64). Core biopsy had equally high sensitivity of 86 per cent in both subtypes; however, FNAC was significantly less sensitive in both ILC (55 per cent; P = 0·003) and IDC (75·6 per cent; P = 0·006). Multivariable analysis revealed that cT3-4 status and symptomatic presentation were both significant in predicting nodal metastasis in patients with ILC and false-negative AUS findings (OR 3·77, 95 per cent c.i. 1·69 to 8·42, P = 0·001; and OR 1·92, 1·24 to 2·98, P = 0·003, respectively). AUS is inferior in detecting axillary node metastasis in ILC compared with IDC. Women with cT3-4 lobular carcinoma may benefit from ultrasound-guided axillary biopsy regardless of the ultrasonographic appearance of the nodes.

Abstract PD2-04: Enhanced pre-operative axillary staging using intradermal microbubbles and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to identify and biopsy sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) in breast cancer is a reproducible technique and may characterise a group of patients who can completely avoid axillary surgery

Abstract Purpose In patients with breast cancer, avoiding overtreatment of the axilla without compromising oncological outcomes is an important clinical goal. Previous work has suggested that patients with a normal grey-scale ultrasound and benign radiological core biopsy of SLN identified with CEUS are unlikely to have high volume axillary metastases. We therefore assessed the reproducibility of this biopsy technique in multiple centres and in 2 centres, measured the volume of axillary metastases at the end of primary surgical treatment in patients with a false negative SLN core biopsy. Materials and Methods Between 2010 and 2016 data were collected on patients with early breast cancer; 1361 from Maidstone Breast Clinic (1) (prospective, sequential), 376 from Tunbridge Wells Breast Clinic (2) (retrospective, sequential), 122 from Leeds Breast Clinic (3) (retrospective, selected) and 48 from Imperial College Healthcare (4) (prospective, selected). Patients at Centres 1 and 2 had a normal grey-scale axillary ultrasound. Patients had a CEUS SLN core biopsy procedure prior to axillary surgery (sentinel lymph node excision (SLNE)/axillary lymph node dissection (ALND)). Results SLN were successfully core biopsied (nodal tissue retrieved) in 80% (Centre 1), 79.5% (Centre 2), 77.5% (Centre 3) and 88% (Centre 4). Patients with invasive breast cancer and a successful SLN core biopsy went on to have primary surgical treatment, 816 (Centre 1), 215 (Centre 2), 80 (Centre 3) and 38 (Centre 4). As a test to identify all SLN metastases, the sensitivities were 47.5% (95% CI 39.9-55.1), 52.5% (95% CI 39.1-65.7), 46.4% (95% CI 27.5-66.1) and 45.5% (95% CI 16.7-76.6) respectively. Specificities; 99.7% (95% CI 98.9-100), 98.1 (95% CI 94.5-99.6), 100% (95% CI 93.2-100%) and 96.3% (95% CI 81-99.9) respectively. Negative predictive values; 87.3% (95% CI 84.6-89.6), 84.5% (95% CI 78.4-89.5), 86.9% (95% CI 82.4-90.3) and 86.2% (95% CI 78.4-91.5) respectively. At Centres 1 and 2, 13/637 (2%) and 6/183 (3%) respectively of patients with a benign microbubble/ CEUS SLN core biopsy had 2 or more LN macrometastases found at SLNE/ ALND. Conclusion The identification and biopsy of SLN using CEUS is a reproducible technique. Despite the low sensitivity, the negative predictive value is high and in a large cohort of patients from centres 1 and 2, only a small proportion of patients had 2 or more 2 lymph node macro metastases that were both occult on grey-scale ultrasound and missed by SLN core biopsy. In the era of axillary conservation, these results indicate that some patients may be suitable for complete radiological staging of the axilla and thus safely avoid axillary surgery. Citation Format: Cox KL, Sharma N, Taylor-Phillips S, Weeks J, Mills P, Lim A, Haigh I, Sever A, Wallis M, DeSilva T, Hashem M. Enhanced pre-operative axillary staging using intradermal microbubbles and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to identify and biopsy sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) in breast cancer is a reproducible technique and may characterise a group of patients who can completely avoid axillary surgery [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2017 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2017 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(4 Suppl):Abstract nr PD2-04.

Does preoperative axillary staging lead to overtreatment of women with screen-detected breast cancer?

To determine the impact of preoperative axillary ultrasound staging in a screen-detected breast cancer population. Ultrasound and needle biopsy staging results alongside reference standard sentinel lymph node biopsy and axillary lymph node dissection were extracted retrospectively from the unit's computer records between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2015. Axillary staging was compared with final histopathology and treatment. Of the 215,661 screening examinations performed, 780 invasive cancers were diagnosed, which had preoperative axillary staging data, of which 162 (20.7%) were node positive. Thirty-six (4.6%) had a heavy nodal burden (three or more nodes). Ninety (11.5%) had an abnormal axillary ultrasound and axillary biopsy of which 54 were positive for cancer (33.3% of the node positive cases) and triaged to axillary lymph node dissection avoiding a sentinel lymph node biopsy. Of these 22 (40.7%) had neoadjuvant treatment, and 32 (59.3%) proceeded directly to axillary lymph node dissection. The sensitivity of axillary ultrasound and biopsy to detect women with a heavy nodal burden (three or more nodes) was 41.7% (15 of 36); however, 17 (53%) of the 32 women with a positive axillary biopsy had a low burden of axillary disease (two or fewer positive nodes) at axillary lymph node dissection, the mean number of nodes obtained was 14.6. Significant numbers of women are being potentially overtreated or denied entry into positive sentinel node: adjuvant therapy only versus adjuvant therapy and clearance or axillary radiotherapy (POSNOC) because of routine preoperative axillary staging.

Enhanced pre-operative axillary staging using intradermal microbubbles and contrast-enhanced ultrasound to detect and biopsy sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer: a potential replacement for axillary surgery.

To compare the experience of four UK Centres in the use of intradermal microbubbles and contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to pre-operatively identify and biopsy sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) in patients with breast cancer. In all centres, breast cancer patients had a microbubble/CEUS SLN core biopsy prior to axillary surgery and patients in Centres 1 and 2 had a normal greyscale axillary ultrasound. Data were collected between 2010 and 2016; 1361 from Centre 1 (prospective, sequential), 376 from Centre 2 (retrospective, sequential), 121 from Centre 3 (retrospective, selected) and 48 from Centre 4 (prospective, selected). SLN were successfully core biopsied in 80% (Centre 1), 79.6% (Centre 2), 77.5% (Centre 3) and 88% (Centre 4). The sensitivities to identify all SLN metastases were 46.9% [95% confidence intervals (CI) (39.4-55.1)], 52.5% [95% CI (39.1-65.7)], 46.4% [95% CI (27.5-66.1)] and 45.5% [95% CI (16.7-76.6)], respectively. The specificities were 99.7% [95% CI (I98.9-100)], 98.1% [95% CI (94.5-99.6)], 100% [95% CI (93.2-100%)] and 96.3% [95% CI (81-99.9)], respectively.The negative predictive values were 87.0% [95% CI (84.3-89.3)], 84.5% [95% CI (78.4-89.5)], 86.9% [95% CI (82.4-90.3)] and 86.2% [95% CI (78.4-91.5)], respectively. At Centres 1 and 2, 12/730 (1.6%) and 7/181 (4%), respectively, of patients with a benign microbubble/CEUS SLN core biopsy had two or more lymph node (LN) macrometastases found at the end of primary surgical treatment. The identification and biopsy of SLN using CEUS is a reproducible technique. Advances in knowledge: In the era of axillary conservation, microbubble/CEUS SLN core biopsy has the potential to succeed surgical staging of the axilla.

Core biopsy is more sensitive than fine needle aspiration for preoperative axillary staging in invasive breast cancer

Core biopsy is more sensitive than fine needle aspiration for preoperative axillary staging in invasive breast cancer