Incidence of axillary recurrence in 113 sentinel node negative breast cancer patients: a 3-year follow-up study

Backgrounds/aims This study evaluates the 3-year follow-up period and recurrence rate in patients with a negative sentinel node biopsy (SNB) without an additional axillary dissection (ALND). Methods Between January 2000 and March 2002, 197 patients with an invasive breast cancer and clinically negative axillary nodes underwent a sentinel node biopsy. One hundred and thirteen patients were included in our study. The follow-up consisted of clinical examination every 3 months in the first year, followed by every 6 months after the first year. A mammography was obtained annually. Attention was paid to loco-regional recurrence, including axillary recurrence, and distant metastases. Results The mean duration of follow-up was 37.5 months (range 24–54). In this period, one patient was diagnosed with an axillary recurrence and one patient developed a supraclavicular lymph node metastasis. Two patients developed a second primary breast cancer in the contralateral breast. No patients were diagnosed with distant metastasis. Conclusion These 3 year follow-up results suggest that SNB is a procedure with a low clinical recurrence rate, which can replace, when strict criteria are met, ALND if the sentinel node is negative.