Table 1.
Comparison of Patient, Tumor, and Treatment Characteristics between Sentinel Lymph Node Dissection Alone and Axillary Lymph Node Dissection Groups in Patients who Underwent Breast-Conserving Therapy or Total Mastectomy and had Positive Sentinel Lymph Nodes
| Characteristic | n (%)*
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| ALND (n = 673) | SLND Alone (n = 188) | p Value | |
| Age, y | 0.0005 | ||
| Mean | 55.0 | 58.3 | |
| Median (range) | 54 (22–91) | 57 (29–89) | |
| Clinical T stage | <0.0001 | ||
| T1 | 445 (66.1) | 152 (80.9) | |
| T2 | 228 (33.9) | 36 (19.1) | |
| Clinical tumor size, cm | <0.0001† | ||
| Mean | 1.8 | 1.5 | |
| Median (range) | 1.6 (0.09–5) | 1.3 (0.1–5) | |
| Nuclear grade | 0.1 | ||
| I | 68 (10.1) | 29 (15.4) | |
| II | 371 (55.1) | 103 (54.8) | |
| III | 234 (34.8) | 56 (29.8) | |
| Presence of LVI | 0.007 | ||
| No | 419 (62.3) | 137 (72.9) | |
| Yes | 254 (37.7) | 51 (27.1) | |
| Surgery type | 0.002 | ||
| BCT | 328 (48.7) | 121 (64.4) | |
| Total mastectomy | 345 (51.3) | 67 (35.6) | |
| SLN extranodal extension | <0.0001 | ||
| Yes | 142 (21.1) | 10 (5.3) | |
| No | 531 (78.9) | 178 (94.7) | |
| Lymph node metastasis diameter | <0.001 | ||
| Micrometastasis (>0.2–2.0 mm) | 158 (23.5) | 136 (72.3) | |
| Macrometastasis (>2.0 mm) | 515 (76.5) | 52 (27.7) | |
| Adjuvant chemotherapy | <0.001 | ||
| Yes | 545 (81.0) | 126 (67.0) | |
| No | 128 (19.0) | 62 (33.0) | |
| Adjuvant hormonal therapy | 0.4 | ||
| Yes | 535 (79.5) | 144 (76.6) | |
| No | 138 (20.5) | 44 (23.4) | |
| Adjuvant radiation therapy | 0.08 | ||
| Yes | 418 (62.5) | 129 (69.4) | |
| No | 251 (37.5) | 57 (30.6) | |
| Unknown | 4 | 2 | |
| Time from surgery to adjuvant chemotherapy, d | 0.1† | ||
| Mean | 47.9 | 46.0 | |
| Median (range) | 43 (2–179) | 41.5 (1–159) | |
| Follow-up time, y | 0.01† | ||
| Mean | 5.4 | 5.8 | |
| Median (range) | 4.9 (1–17.1) | 5.5 (1.2–11.2) | |
| Local recurrence | 0.7‡ | ||
| Yes | 12 (1.8) | 2 (1.1) | |
| No | 661 (98.2) | 186 (98.9) | |
| Regional recurrence | 0.1‡ | ||
| Yes | 11 (1.6) | 0 | |
| No | 662 (98.4) | 188 | |
| Distant recurrence | 0.2‡ | ||
| Yes | 36 (5.4) | 5 (2.7) | |
| No | 637 (94.6) | 183 (97.3) | |
| Overall survival rate, % | |||
| 5-Year | 94.3 | 95.5 | |
| 10-Year | 81.9 | 92.5 | |
| Disease-free survival rate, % | |||
| 5-Year | 95.7 | 98.0 | |
| 10-Year | 80.2 | 82.5 | |
*
Unless otherwise stated.
†
Wilcoxon rank-sum test.
‡
Fisher’s exact test.
ALND, axillary lymph node dissection; BCT, breast-conserving therapy; LVI, lymphovascular invasion; SLN, sentinel lymph node; SLND, sentinel lymph node dissection; TM, total mastectomy.