Axillary lymph node metastases in patients with a final diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ

Kelly, Tricia A; Kim, Julian A; Patrick, Rebecca; Grundfest, Sharon; Crowe, Joseph P

doi:10.1016/S0002-9610(03)00276-9

« Previous Next »The American Journal of Surgery
Volume 186, Issue 4 , Pages 368-370, October 2003

Axillary lymph node metastases in patients with a final diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ

Presented at the Fourth Annual Meeting of the American Society of Breast Surgeons, Atlanta, Georgia, April 30–May 4, 2003

Tricia A Kelly, M.D.
- Cleveland Clinic Breast Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of General Surgery, A-80, 9500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
Julian A Kim, M.D.
- Cleveland Clinic Breast Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of General Surgery, A-80, 9500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-216-445-3612; fax: +1-216-445-7653.
Rebecca Patrick, M.A.
- Cleveland Clinic Breast Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of General Surgery, A-80, 9500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
Sharon Grundfest, M.D.
- Cleveland Clinic Breast Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of General Surgery, A-80, 9500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44195, USA
Joseph P Crowe, M.D.
- Cleveland Clinic Breast Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Department of General Surgery, A-80, 9500 Euclid Ave., Cleveland, OH 44195, USA

Received 3 June 2003; received in revised form 21 June 2003

Abstract

Background

Recent studies report the incidence of axillary metastases in patients with ductal carcinoma in-situ (DCIS) approaches 13%. The purpose of this study was to define the incidence of axillary micrometastases in patients with pure DCIS before and after the introduction of sentinel lymph node biopsy.

Methods

Patients with a final diagnosis of DCIS form the basis of this study. Data were entered prospectively into an Institutional Review Board approved Oracle database from January 1997 through July 2002.

Results

One hundred and thirty-four patients had lymph nodes evaluated. Ninety-eight percent of patients had no evidence of metastatic disease and 2% were found to have micrometastases. This was consistent in those who had level I or II lymph node sampling or both and those who had lymphatic mapping and a sentinel lymph node biopsy procedure.