De-Escalating Axillary Surgery in Node-Positive Breast Cancer Treated with Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy.

ABSTRACT:

Background

There is a trend towards de-escalating axillary staging and treatment in breast cancer patients. On account of neoadjuvant systemic therapy, node-positive breast cancer patients can achieve a pathological complete response of the axilla. It is hypothesized that these patients do not benefit from an axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), and thus may be spared the risk of severe post-surgical morbidity. In an effort to omit standard ALND, less invasive axillary staging procedures are being implemented to establish response-guided treatment. However, it is unclear which less invasive staging procedure is most accurate, and long-term data are missing with regard to their oncologic safety.

Summary

This article provides an overview of the literature on currently used l

SUBMITTER: de Wild SR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8739383 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature