BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy for axillary staging in breast cancer is technically more demanding but of added benefit in obese patients. This retrospective review compares variables and outcomes of SLN staging in obese and nonobese women. METHODS: From 235 total SLN cases, demographics and clinical and procedural variables were collected and compared in obese (body mass index [BMI] of ≥ 35, n = 28) and nonobese (BMI ≤ 25 [n = 84]) patients. RESULTS: Overall, the intraoperative false-negative rate was 13.6% and failure to identify SLN occurred in 2 cases (.85%). Although no differences in patient or tumor characteristics were found, obese patients had significantly lower external hotspot counts, first sentinel node counts, and fewer sentinel nodes recovered when compared with the nonobese. CONCLUSIONS: SLN procedures are successful and accurate for axillary staging in obese women and avoid the added morbidity of axillary lymph node dissection in this higher risk population.
BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy for axillary staging in breast cancer is technically more demanding but of added benefit in obesepatients. This retrospective review compares variables and outcomes of SLN staging in obese and nonobese women. METHODS: From 235 total SLN cases, demographics and clinical and procedural variables were collected and compared in obese (body mass index [BMI] of ≥ 35, n = 28) and nonobese (BMI ≤ 25 [n = 84]) patients. RESULTS: Overall, the intraoperative false-negative rate was 13.6% and failure to identify SLN occurred in 2 cases (.85%). Although no differences in patient or tumor characteristics were found, obesepatients had significantly lower external hotspot counts, first sentinel node counts, and fewer sentinel nodes recovered when compared with the nonobese. CONCLUSIONS: SLN procedures are successful and accurate for axillary staging in obesewomen and avoid the added morbidity of axillary lymph node dissection in this higher risk population.
Authors: Jennifer Yin Yee Kwan; Petra Famiyeh; Jie Su; Wei Xu; Benjamin Yin Ming Kwan; Jennifer M Jones; Eugene Chang; Kenneth W Yip; Fei-Fei Liu Journal: JAMA Netw Open Date: 2020-11-02