ObjectiveTo investigate the risk factors of internal mammary lymph node (IMLN) metastasis in breast cancer patients, and to provide evidence for clarifying the TNM stage of tumors and formulating precise treatment plans. Methods The female patients who were admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University from February 2019 to January 2020 and diagnosed with breast cancer by tissue biopsy pathology based on the new tracer technology were retrospectively collected. All IMLNs were dissected. The associations of IMLN metastasis with patients’ age, tumor size (long diameter), tumor location, tumor grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor statuses, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) status, number of axillary lymph node (ALN) metastasis, and pathological molecular typing were analyzed. ResultsA total of 28 patients were included in this study. The visualization rates in the ALN and IMLN by the new tracer technique were 96.4% (27/28) and 35.7% (10/28), respectively. The pathological results of IMLN biopsy confirmed that 6 patients (The 6 cases were all displaying) had IMLN metastases, with an IMLN metastasis rate of 21.4%. The IMLN metastasis was related to the tumor location and ALN metastasis number of patients with breast cancer (P<0.05). That is to say, when the tumor located in the medial quadrant and the number of ALN metastasis was 4 or more, the IMLN metastasis rates were higher than those in the lateral quadrant (57.1% vs. 10.0%, P=0.028) and in the patients with ALN metastasis number <4 (50.0% vs. 11.1%, P=0.038). It was not found that IMLN metastasis was related to age, tumor size, tumor grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor statuses, HER2 status, and pathological molecular typing of patients with breast cancer (P>0.05). And the area of the receiver operating characteristic curve of the number of ALN metastasis for assessing IMLN metastasis was 0.697. ConclusionFrom the summarized results of cases in this study, the visualization rate of IMLN is higher based on the new tracer technology. When breast cancer locates in the medial quadrant and the number of ALN metastasis is 4 or more, it is recommended to actively carry out IMLN biopsy to clarify the results of pathological diagnosis, so as to accurately assess the tumor stage and formulate appropriate individualized treatment plan.
ObjectiveTo systematically review the diagnostic value of the ultrasonographic elastography in the differential diagnosis of axillary lymph nodes in breast cancer.MethodsWe electronically searched the databases including The Cochrane Library, PubMed, CNKI, WanFang Data, VIP, MedaLink and CBM for studies about diagnostic value of the ultrasonographic elastography in the differential diagnosis of axillary lymph nodes in breast cancer from inception to October 2016. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed using MetaDisc 1.4 software.ResultsA total of 9 studies involving 735 lymph nodes were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that, the pooled sensitivity, pooled specificity, pooled positive likelihood ratio, pooled negative likelihood ratio and DOR were 0.82 (95%CI 0.78 to 0.86), 0.76 (95%CI 0.72 to 0.81), 3.32 (95%CI 2.57 to 4.27), 0.25 (95%CI 0.20 to 0.31), and 14.77 (95%CI 10.20 to 21.38), respectively. The AUC of the SROC curve was 0.8741.ConclusionUltrasonographic elastography has high sensitivity and specificity in the differential diagnosis of axillary lymph nodes in breast cancer, which indicates that it can be used to diagnosis axillary lymph nodes in breast cancer.
Objective To explore the protection of the structure and function around the upper pole of the thyroid gland by endoscopic thyroidectomy combined with nerve detection through the gasless unilateral axillary approach. Methods From January 2019 to June 2020, 48 thyroid patients who underwent the gasless unilateral axillary approach combined with the endoscopy and nerve detection technology in the Department of Head and Neck Surgery of Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital were reviewed as the endoscopic group, and 53 thyroid patients underwent open surgery combined with the endoscopy and nerve detection technology as the open group. The protection of the functional structure of the suprathyroid pole were compared. Results In terms of operation time, the endoscopic group was longer than that of the open group (67.5 min vs. 54.1 min, P=0.001). There was no statistical difference between the two groups in terms of postoperative hospital stay and blood loss (P>0.05). Forty-seven patients with the endoscopic thyroid surgery through the gasless unilateral axillary approach effectively detected the superior laryngeal nerve (47/48, 97.9%), which was higher than that of the open group (40/53, 75.5%), P=0.003, and the exposure rate of hypoglossal nerve descending branch in the endoscopic group was also higher [31.3% (15/48) vs. 3.8% (2/53), P=0.001]. In the endoscopic group, the superior parathyroid gland was kept in situ during the operation, and there was no change of voice and cough after the operation. In the open group, there were 2 cases of autologous transplantation of the upper pole parathyroid gland, 2 patients had voice changes, and 1 case had partial upper pole banded muscle incision. There was no significant difference in the incidence of nerve injury complications, the rate of autologous transplantation of the upper pole parathyroid gland and the rate of anterior cervical banded muscle injury between the two groups (P>0.05). In addition, there was no significant difference in the levels of parathyroid hormone, blood calcium, blood magnesium and blood phosphorus between the two groups before/after operation (P>0.05). Conclusion During the endoscopic thyroidectomy through the gasless unilateral axillary approach, the nerve monitoring technology is combined with the exploration and protection of the superior laryngeal nerve on the surface of the medial cricothyroid muscle of the upper pole of the thyroid, and the fine capsule anatomy technology is used to protect the superior parathyroid gland in situ, which can more effectively expose the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve. It is conducive to the protection of the structures around the upper pole.
Objective To explore the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) in axillary and internal mammary lymph node metastasis of invasive breast cancer. Methods A total of 100 patients with invasive breast cancer treated from September 2020 to September 2022 were selected. Preoperative CEUS examination was completed, and the perfusion sequence, enhancement mode and enhancement sequence of lymph nodes were dynamically observed. The CEUS characteristics of metastatic and benign lymph nodes were compared. Using postoperative pathological results as the gold standard, the diagnostic efficacy of CEUS in evaluating lymph node status was analyzed. Results Among the 100 patients, 28 patients were diagnosed with metastatic axillary lymph nodes (ALN) by pathological biopsy. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive prediction rate and negative prediction rate of CEUS in evaluating ALN status were 71.4%, 87.5%, 83.0%, 69.0% and 88.7%, respectively. In 9 patients, CEUS showed internal mammary lymph node metastasis, and postoperative pathological examination confirmed that 5 patients had internal mammary lymph node metastasis, so the positive predictive rate of CEUS was 55.6%. Conclusion CEUS can evaluate the metastatic status of axillary and internal mammary lymph nodes.
Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors among women. Typically, the operation of breast cancer should include breast surgery and axillary lymph node surgery since breast cancer first metastasizes to regional axillary lymph nodes. However, postoperative breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) in upper limb is the most common long-term complication. The injury to upper limb lymphatic system contributes to causing the postoperative BCRL. Therefore, precision medicine in the extent of axillary lymph node surgery plays an important role in preventing BCRL which can improve the quality of life in breast cancer patients.
ObjectiveTo investigate the metastatic status and risk factors of axillary non-sentinel lymph node (NSLN) in breast cancer patients with 1–2 positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLN), and to provide theoretical basis for exemption of axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in these patients. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on 54 patients diagnosed with breast cancer who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and confirmed to have 1–2 positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLNS) and received ALND in the Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery of Tongling People’s Hospital from January 2018 to April 2023. The patients were divided into NSLN metastatic group (17 cases) and NSLN non-metastatic group (37 cases) according to whether there was metastasis. Chi-square test was used to compare the basic information and clinicpathological features of the two groups. The independent risk factors for axillary NSLN metastasis were screened out by multivariate binary logistic regression model. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of independent risk factors combined with axillary NSLN metastasis. Results There were 54 cases with 1–2 metastasis of SLN, 17 cases with axillary NSLN metastasis (31.5%). The incidence of axillary NSLN metastasis in patients with tumor at T1 stage (maximum diameter ≤2 cm) was only 14.3% (4/28), however, the metastatic rate of axillary NSLN in patients with tumor in T2–T3 stage (maximum diameter >2 cm) was as high as 50.0% (13/26). The axillary NSLN metastasis rate was only 21.2% (7/33) with 1 SLN metastasis, while the axillary NSLN metastasis rate was 47.6% (10/21) with 2 SLN metastasis. Univariate analysis showed that T stage (tumor diameter >2 cm), 2 SLN metastases, number of SLN >5 and tumor with vascular embolus were more likely to develop axillary NSLN metastases (P<0.05). Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis showed that T stage (tumor diameter >2 cm) and 2 SLN metastases were independent risk factors for axillary NSLN metastasis in breast cancer patients, the area under ROC curve of combined prediction of axillary NSLN metastasis by the two was 0.747, 95%CI was (0.657, 0.917), sensitivity was 0.765 and specificity was 0.649. Conclusions The combination of tumor T stage and the number of SLN metastases can better predict axillary NSLN metastasis in breast cancer patients. ALND is recommended for breast cancer patients with T stage (tumor diameter >2 cm) and 2 SLN metastases to reduce the risk of residual axillary NSLN metastasis.
Objective To explore the feasibility of breast cancer patients in China with 1–2 positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) to avoid axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). Methods A total of 328 patients who received sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in our hospital from 2010 to 2016 were collected retrospectively, and patients met the criteria of Z0011 clinical trials (which required no acceptance of neoadjuvant therapy, clinical tumor size was in T1/T2 stage, two or less positive SLNs were detected, received breast-conservation surgery, acceptance of whole breast radiotherapy after surgery and neoadjuvant systemic treatment) were enrolled to breast-conservation group. Patients met the criteria of Z0011 clinical trials, excepting the surgery (received non-breast-conservation surgery), were enrolled to non- breast-conservation group. Comparison of clinicopathological features between the breast-conservation group/non-breast-conservation group and the Z0011 ALND group was performed. Results Among the 328 patients, only 29 patients (8.8%) completely correspond with the results of Z0011 clinical trials. There was no statistical significance between the breast-conservation group and the Z0011 ALND group in the age, clinical T stage, expression of estrogen (ER), expression of progesterone (PR), pathological type, histological grade, number of positive lymph nodes, and incidence of non-sentinel node metastasis (P>0.05). A total of 81 patients were included in the non-breast-conservation group. It showed no statistical significance between the non-breast-conservation group and the Z0011 ALND group in expressions of ER and PR, and histological grade (P>0.05), while there was statistically significant difference in age, clinical T stage, pathological type,number of positive lymph nodes, and incidence of non-sentinel node metastasis (P<0.05). Patients in the non-breast-conservation group showed a lower age, higher percentage of lobular carcinoma and T2 stage, more positive lymph nodes, and high incidence of non-sentinel node metastasis. Conclusion It’s feasible for Z0011 clinical trials results to be used in the clinical practice of our country, but the actual situation of breast conservation in our country may lead to low adaptive population.