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Breast Cancer (Expert Forum)
Axillary Disection after positive sentinel node
Questions posted in the Breast Cancer Forum are answered by medical professionals from The Cleveland Clinic. Topics include Breast Biopsy, Chemotherapy, Hormone Therapy, Lumps, Lumpectomy, Lymph node dissection, Lymphedema, Mammograms, Mastectomy, Radiation Therapy, Reconstruction, Self Breast Exam, and Surgery.
Axillary Disection after positive sentinel node
by mitchman, Jul 27, 2005 12:00AM
Wife, 41 yrs., excellent health dignosed with IDC, 1.1 cm;, ER pos,Heu2 neg., lumpectomy followed by sentinel node(1) surgery, positive on routine stain < .2mm. Onc recommends aggressive chemo followed by rad. & hormone. How important to do axillary disection if course of action is already most agressive. Radiation to lymph node area? Wants to avoid further surgery if not a real benefit.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-RN,MSN-rf, Aug 01, 2005 12:00AM
Dear mitchman: The primary reason to obtain a full axillary dissection is to determine whether your wife should have axillary radiation. If she has 4 or more axillary lymph nodes involved, then radiation therapy would be recommended. This would decrease local recurrence. If she does not have extensive nodal involvement, then she would not be recommended to have radiation treatment. Additionally, if she is considering a clinical trial for node positive breast cancer, these trials require a minimum number of lymph nodes to be sampled.
