Table 1.
Patient and Clinicopathologic Characteristics
| Total | ALND* | SLNB†+ALND | SLNB Alone | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 81 | n = 31 (38%) | n = 25 (31%) | n = 25 (31%) | ||
| Patient Factors | |||||
| Age | 0.97 | ||||
| ≤ 50 years | 38 (47%) | 14 (45%) | 12 (48%) | 12 (48%) | |
| > 50 years | 43 (53%) | 17 (55%) | 13 (52%) | 13 (52%) | |
| Race / Ethnicity | 0.143 | ||||
| Non-Hispanic White | 19 (23%) | 6 (19%) | 4 (16%) | 9 (36%) | |
| Non-Hispanic Black | 20 (25%) | 9 (29%) | 8 (32%) | 3 (12%) | |
| Hispanic | 40 (49%) | 16 (52%) | 11 (44%) | 13 (52%) | |
| Other | 2 (2%) | - | 2 (8%) | - | |
| Gender | 0.622 | ||||
| Female | 79 (98%) | 30 (97%) | 25 (100%) | 24 (96%) | |
| Male | 2 (2%) | 1 (3%) | - | 1 (4%) | |
| Tumor Factors | |||||
| Histology | 0.658 | ||||
| Ductal | 75 (93%) | 28 (90%) | 23 (92%) | 24 (96%) | |
| Lobular | 4 (5%) | 2 (7%) | 1 (4%) | 1 (4%) | |
| Unknown | 2 (2%) | 1 (3%) | 1 (4%) | - | |
| Grade | 0.669 | ||||
| 1 | 2 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (4%) | 1 (4%) | |
| 2 | 27 (33%) | 10 (33%) | 10 (42%) | 7 (28%) | |
| 3 | 50 (62%) | 20 (67%) | 13 (54%) | 17 (68%) | |
| Unknown | 2 (2%) | 1 (3%) | 1 (4%) | - | |
| Breast Cancer Subtype ‡ | 0.822 | ||||
| ER+/HER2-§‖ | 30 (37%) | 13 (41%) | 10 (40%) | 7 (28%) | |
| ER+/HER2+ | 27 (33%) | 9 (28%) | 9 (36%) | 9 (36%) | |
| ER-/HER2+ | 11 (14%) | 4 (13%) | 2 (8%) | 5 (20%) | |
| TNBC¶ | 14 (17%) | 6 (19%) | 4 (16%) | 4 (16%) | |
| Clinical T | 0.256 | ||||
| 0–2 | 44 (54%) | 15 (48%) | 12 (48%) | 17 (68%) | |
| 3–4 | 37 (46%) | 16 (52%) | 13 (52%) | 8 (32%) | |
| Treatment Factors | |||||
| Multi-agent Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy | 80 (99%) | 30 (97%) | 25 (100%) | 25 (100%) | 0.442 |
| HER2-targeted Therapy | 38 (46%) | 13 (42%) | 11 (44%) | 14 (56%) | 0.543 |
| Clinical CR # | < 0.001 | ||||
| Yes | 26 (32%) | 9 (29%) | 4 (16%) | 13 (52%) | |
| No | 55 (67%) | 22 (71%) | 21 (84%) | 12 (48%) | |
| Breast cCR only | 2 (2%) | 2 (7%) | - | - | |
| Axillary cCR only | 30 (37%) | 2 (7%) | 17 (68%) | 11 (42%) | |
| Surgery | 0.300 | ||||
| Mastectomy | 58 (72%) | 24 (77%) | 19 (76%) | 15 (60%) | |
| Partial Mastectomy | 23 (28%) | 7 (23%) | 6 (24%) | 10 (40%) | |
| SLN Biopsy Technique | < 0.001 | ||||
| Radiotracer Alone | 25 (31%) | - | 11 (44%) | 14 (56%) | |
| Radiotracer and Blue Dye | 25 (31%) | - | 14 (56%) | 11 (44%) | |
| Clipped Node | 0.011 | ||||
| Localized & Removed | 12 (15%) | - | 7 (28%) | 5 (19%) | |
| Removed (Not Localized) | 5 (6%) | - | 2 (8%) | 3 (12%) | |
| SLN Identified | 45 (90%) | - | 20 (80%) | 25 (100%) | 0.018 |
| SLN Biopsy Results | 0.001 | ||||
| SLNB Negative | 18 (36%) | - | 1 (4%) | 17 (68%) | |
| SLNB Positive | 27 (54%) | - | 19 (76%) | 8 (32%) | |
| Radiation Therapy | 73 (90%) | 25 (80%) | 25 (100%) | 23 (92%) | 0.098 |
| Endocrine Therapy | 56 (67%) | 22 (71%) | 17 (68%) | 17 (65%) | 0.961 |
| Pathologic Response | |||||
| Pathologic T Stage | 0.026 | ||||
| 0-Tis | 29 (36%) | 8 (26%) | 6 (24%) | 15 (60%) | |
| 1–2 | 48 (59%) | 20 (65%) | 18 (72%) | 10 (40%) | |
| 3–4 | 4 (5%) | 3 (10%) | 1 (4%) | - | |
| Pathologic N Stage | < 0.001 | ||||
| 0 | 30 (38%) | 12 (39%) | 1 (4%) | 17 (68%) | |
| 1 | 34 (42%) | 11 (36%) | 15 (60%) | 8 (32%) | |
| 2–3 | 17 (21%) | 8 (26%) | 9 (36%) | - | |
| Pathologic CR | 0.002 | ||||
| Yes | 21 (26%) | 8 (26%) | 1 (4%) | 12 (48%) | |
| No | 60 (74%) | 23 (74%) | 24 (96%) | 13 (52%) | |
| Breast pCR only | 8 (10%) | - | 5 (20%) | 3 (12%) | |
| Axillary pCR only | 9 (11%) | 4 (13%) | - | 5 (20%) | |
| # Lymph Nodes Removed | < 0.001 | ||||
| 1–5 | 17 (21%) | 1 (3%) | 2 (8%) | 14 (56%) | |
| 6–9 | 10 (12%) | 1 (3%) | 3 (12%) | 6 (24%) | |
| 10 or more | 54 (67%) | 29 (94%) | 20 (80%) | 5 (20%) |
*ALND = axillary lymph node dissection, †SLNB = sentinel lymph node biopsy, ‡One patient in the ALND group had 2 tumors in the breast with different biomarkers for a total of 82 tumors in 81 patients §ER = estrogen receptor, ‖HER2 = human epidermal growth factor receptor-2, ¶TNBC = triple negative breast cancer, #CR = complete response