Is Regression after Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Locally Advanced Breast Cancer Different in Sentinel and Non-sentinel Nodes?
Tumor draining sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) are the sites of selective changes as compared to non-SLNs. They show features of tumor-reactive lymphadenopathy, including increased total number of functional blood vessels, but a relative immunosuppressed status has also been described in them. We explored the hypothesis of a selective regression or non-regression in SLNs versus non-SLNs in 142 patients with 110 estrogen receptor-positive and 32 estrogen receptor-negative tumors undergoing both SLN biopsy and axillary lymph node dissection after neoadjuvant therapy by assessing the tumoral (metastatic) and regression statuses of SLNs and non-SLNs separately. Of the 89 cases with signs of nodal regression, 22 cases (25%) were in favor of a selective non-regression in SLNs, 18 cases (20%) were supportive of a selective and more pronounced regression in the SLNs and the remaining showed equal degrees of regression or non-regression in SLNs and non-SLNs. The results indicate that there is no obvious difference in the degree of regressive histological changes shown by SLNs and NSLNs. Therefore, this phenomenon may not be a major contributor to the higher false negative rate of SLN biopsy after neoadjuvant treatment.
['Cserni|Gábor|G|http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1344-7744', 'Zombori|Tamás|T|', 'Andreu|Xavier|X|', 'Bianchi|Simonetta|S|', 'Regitnig|Peter|P|', 'Amendoeira|Isabel|I|', 'Balmativola|Davide|D|', 'Kovács|Anikó|A|', 'Cordoba|Alicia|A|', 'Reiner|Angelika|A|', 'Kulka|Janina|J|', 'Kaya|Handan|H|', 'Liepniece-Karele|Inta|I|', 'Quinn|Cecily|C|', 'Kővári|Bence|B|']
D001365:Axilla D001943:Breast Neoplasms D005260:Female D005500:Follow-Up Studies D006801:Humans D008197:Lymph Node Excision D008198:Lymph Nodes D008875:Middle Aged D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy D011379:Prognosis D012189:Retrospective Studies D000071036:Sentinel Lymph Node D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
Breast cancer Sentinel lymph node Selective regression Neoadjuvant therapy Non-sentinel lymph node