Researchers in Spain conducted a study among 1606 women with node-negative breast cancer. The results were published in the Annals of Oncology. What the researchers wanted to find out is whether the number of lymph nodes removed during axillary lymph node dissection influences risk of recurrence. Axillary lymph node sampling is a necessary procedure to stage a patient diagnosed with breast cancer. Women who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy were not included in the study.
The researchers discovered that there was an increased risk of local breast cancer recurrence if fewer than six lymph nodes were removed. If the surgeon removes less than six lymph nodes there is a risk that other lymph nodes that could contain cancer can be missed. This can result in under staging and the patient not receiving the correct treatment plan.
In order to be confident that the patient does indeed have node negative breast cancer it is important to remove at least six lymph nodes for evaluation.
