Publikation
Association of the presence of bone marrow micrometastases with the sentinel lymph node status in 410 early stage breast cancer patients: results of the Swiss Multicenter Study
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel/Review - 14.03.2007
Langer Igor, Zuber Markus, Burger Daniel, Infanger Eduard, Uehlinger Urs, Wight Edward, Schnarwyler Beate, Bronz Lucio, Oertli Daniel, Hess Thomas, Fehr Mathias K, Schaer Gabriel, Singer Gad, Berclaz Gilles, Koechli Ossi R, Gueller Ulrich, Swiss Multicenter Sentinel Lymph Node Study Group in Breast Cancer
Bereiche
PubMed
DOI
Zitation
Art
Zeitschrift
Veröffentlichungsdatum
ISSN (Druck)
Seiten
Kurzbeschreibung/Zielsetzung
BACKGROUND
The sentinel lymph node (SLN) status has proven to accurately reflect the remaining axillary lymph nodes and represents the most important prognostic factor. It is unknown whether an association exists between the SLN status and the presence of bone marrow (BM) micrometastases. The objective of the present investigation was to evaluate whether or not such an association exists.
METHODS
In the present investigation 410 patients with early stage breast cancer (pT1 and pT2
RESULTS
BM micrometastases were detected in 28.8% (118/410) of all patients. The SLN contained metastases in 32.4% (133/410). Overall 51.2% of the patients (210/410) were SLN negative/BM negative and 12.4% (51/410) SLN positive/BM positive. Of all patients, 16.4% (67/410) were SLN negative/BM positive and 20.0% (82/410) SLN positive/BM negative. There was a statistically significant association between the SLN and BM status, both in unadjusted (Fisher's exact test: P = .004) and multiple logistic regression analysis (P = .007).
CONCLUSIONS
In the present investigation a significant association was found between a positive SLN status and the presence of BM micrometastases. Nonetheless, the percentage of non-concordance (SLN negative/BM positive and SLN positive/BM negative) was considerable. The prognostic impact of BM micrometastases in our patient sample remains to be evaluated.