Breast Cancer Surgical Management Of The Axilla: A National Portrait Compared To International Consensus (Part 2)

Authors

  • Fernando Osório ULS S. João, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0921-836X
  • Elza Almeida ULS Algarve, Portugal
  • Rosa Félix ULS Alentejo Central, Portugal
  • Pedro Gouveia Fundação Champalimaud, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5600-2783
  • Manuel Lima Terroso ULS Alto Ave, Portugal
  • Catarina Rodrigues Santos H. CUF Descobertas, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34635/rpc.1036

Keywords:

breast cancer units, organization, surgical management of the axilla

Abstract

Purpose: The Chapter on Breast Surgery of the Portuguese Society of Surgery aimed to find out from hospitals that treat breast cancer (BC) their contemporary surgical management of the axilla.
Methods: Forty-five hospitals were invited to participate in a nationwide survey in March 2023. A qualitative and quantitative description was made. A complementary comparison with national and international BC clinical guidelines was performed.
Results: We received 38 responses (84.4%). To define a negative axilla, 65.8% required physical examination plus axillary ultrasound (US). A positive axilla requires lymph node US-guided biopsy (core biopsy in 76.3% and fine-needle cytology in 52.6%). Most (94.7%) used a combined dual tracer for sentinel node biopsy (SNB). Tc99 plus Patent Blue was the most common (76.3%). Intraoperative pathology was routinely performed in 52.6%. Omission of SNB was consensual in DCIS (86.8%), 68.4% considered it in older patients, but only 2.6% proposed it in low-risk invasive BC. There was a consensus (92.1%) to omit axillary lymph node dissection (ALDN) when one or two positive sentinel nodes were identified intraoperatively in an initially c/uN0 axilla. To perform a targeted axillary dissection (TAD) in a suspicious/positive axilla, 42.1% reported that one or two nodes were biopsied and marked. The most common localization technique was a titanium clip in 84.2% (only 36.8% were US-visible clips). For the cN1 axilla, the majority preferred ALND for upfront surgery (60.5%) or in the absence of a radiological complete response (uCR) after primary systemic therapy (PST)(63.2%). For uCR after PST, 86.8% favoured SNB plus TAD, with a consensus (92.1%) to omit ALND for pathologic complete response in the axilla. Our survey was unable to assess the morbidity of axillary surgery as outcome registries were found in only 42.1% of hospitals.
Conclusion: De-escalation of surgical management of the axilla has been followed in most hospitals in this national portrait. SNB has long been the standard of care for cN0 axilla. A trend toward more conservative multidisciplinary management of positive axilla has also been noted, with the progressive omission of ALND in favour of TAD and axillary RT.

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2024-07-29

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