ABSTRACT

Traditionally, it is suggested to be retrieved a minimum of 10 lymph nodes in an axillary dissection for accurate staging of axilla. The aim of this study is to review whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy reduces the total number of lymph nodes retrieved in axillary dissection.

The records of 335 patients with breast cancer who had level I-III axillary dissection were evaluated retrospectively. Patients were devided into two groups as those with locally advanced breast cancer who had neoadjuvant chemotherapy and with early breast cancer who had not neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Total number of lymph nodes retrieved in axillary dissection was categorized as in <10 and ≥10. The number of total lymph nodes removed in both groups was compared using chi-square test.

There were 153 patients in neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and 182 in non- neoadjuvant chemotherapy group. It was removed 5-42 and 6-46 (min-max) lymph nodes, respectively, and the number of median lymph nodes collected was 19 in both groups. It was specified that there were less than 10 nodes in 14 of 153 patients (9.2%) in neoadjuvant chemotherapy group and in 5 of 182 patients (2.7%) in non- neoadjuvant chemotherapy group in axillary specimen. This difference between two groups was statistically significant (p<0.01).

The possibility of a recovery of less than 10 nodes is higher in patients with breast cancer who had neoadjuvant chemotherapy.