Internal Mammary Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Clinically Axillary Lymph Node-Positive Breast Cancer: Diagnosis and Implications for Patient Management

摘要

Background. Routine performance of internal mammary sentinel lymph node biopsy (IM-SLNB) remains a subject of debate due to no clinical relevance in breast cancer, because it was performed only in clinically axillary lymph node (ALN)-negative patients. In this study, IM-SLNB was performed in clinically ALN-positive patients, and its impact on nodal staging and therapeutic strategy were subsequently analyzed.