Infiltrating breast carcinoma smaller than 0.5 centimeters : Is lymph node dissection necessary?

✍ Scribed by Enma Saiz; Rebecca Toonkel; Robert J. Poppiti Jr.; Morton J. Robinson

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 71 KB
• Volume: 85
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0008-543X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(19990515)85:10<2206::aid-cncr15>3.0.co;2-7

✦ Synopsis

BACKGROUND.

The incidence of axillary lymph node metastases from infiltrating breast carcinomas measuring 1.0 cm or smaller reported in the literature varies from 0% (for tumors measuring Յ0.5 cm) to 27.1% (for all tumors Յ1 cm).

METHODS.

The authors examined all infiltrating breast carcinomas measuring 1.0 cm or smaller with axillary lymph node dissections in patients seen at their institution between January 1990 and March 1997 (117 cases) to determine the incidence of axillary lymph node metastases. All tumors were evaluated for patient age, histologic type of tumor, modified Bloom-Richardson grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor status, ploidy, S-phase fraction, and angiolymphatic vessel invasion, to determine whether there was a relation between the indicators and axillary lymph node metastases. The authors also performed immunohistochemical stains for the basement membrane components laminin and Type IV collagen on the tumors demonstrating metastases and on an equal number of size-and date-matched tumors not demonstrating metastases.