Do All Patients With Sentinel Node Metastasis From Breast Carcinoma Need Complete Axillary Node Dissection?

Abstract

If a primary breast tumor is small and if sentinel node involvement is micrometastatic, then tumor cells are unlikely to be found in other axillary lymph nodes. This suggests that axillary lymph node dissection may not be necessary in patients with sentinel node micrometastases from T1/T2 lesions, or in patients with sentinel node metastases from T1a lesions.