Table 1.
Patient characteristics
| Characteristics | SLNB only (n = 53) | SLNB + ALND (n = 108) | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, median (IQR), y | 53 (44-62) | 52 (43-61) | .407 |
| Menopausal status | |||
| Premenopausal | 21 (39.6%) | 52 (48.6%) | .315 |
| Postmenopausal | 32 (60.4%) | 55 (51.4%) | |
| Clinical T classification | .203 | ||
| T0 | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (0.9%) | |
| T1 | 4 (7.5%) | 15 (13.9%) | |
| T2 | 36 (67.9%) | 54 (50.0%) | |
| T3 | 12 (22.6%) | 36 (33.3%) | |
| T4 | 1 (1.9%) | 2 (1.9%) | |
| Clinical N classification | .075 | ||
| N0 | 25 (47.2%) | 29 (26.9%) | |
| N1 | 26 (49.1%) | 72 (66.7%) | |
| N2 | 1 (1.9%) | 5 (4.6%) | |
| N3 | 1 (1.9%) | 2 (1.9%) | |
| Phenotype | .608 | ||
| Luminal A | 3 (5.7%) | 7 (6.9%) | |
| Luminal B | 21 (39.6%) | 46 (45.5%) | |
| HER2+ | 18 (34.0%) | 24 (23.8%) | |
| Triple negative | 11 (20.8%) | 24 (23.8%) | |
| Primary surgery | .056 | ||
| Mastectomy | 21 (39.6%) | 63 (58.3%) | |
| Lumpectomy | 32 (60.4%) | 44 (40.7%) | |
| Multifocal disease | |||
| No | 35 (66.0%) | 74 (69.2%) | .721 |
| Yes | 18 (34.0%) | 33 (30.8%) | |
| Primary tumor size, median (IQR), cm | |||
| Clinical | 3.0 (2.5-4.8) | 3.4 (2.5-5.6) | .290 |
| Pathologic | 2.3 (1.5-4.1) | 2.5 (1.7-4.5) | .124 |
| Nottingham grade | |||
| Grade 1 | 2 (4.8%) | 5 (6.0%) | .165 |
| Grade 2 | 26 (61.9%) | 37 (44.0%) | |
| Grade 3 | 14 (33.3%) | 42 (50.0%) | |
| Angiolymphatic invasion | .036 | ||
| Absent | 39 (75.0%) | 61 (57.5%) | |
| Present | 13 (25.0%) | 45 (42.5%) | |
| Nodal extracapsular extension | .084 | ||
| Absent | 31 (73.8%) | 52 (56.5%) | |
| Present | 11 (26.2%) | 40 (43.5%) | |
| Extent of residual nodal disease | <.001 | ||
| Isolated tumor cells | 8 (15.1%) | 1 (0.9%) | |
| Micrometastases | 20 (37.7%) | 8 (7.4%) | |
| Macrometastases | 25 (47.2%) | 99 (91.7%) | |
| RCB score, median (IQR) | 3.0 (2.2-3.4) | 3.4 (3.1-4.0) | .013 |
| RCB-I | 1 (5.8%)∗ | 1 (3.7%)∗ | |
| RCB-II | 10 (58.8%)∗ | 9 (33.3%)∗ | |
| RCB-III | 6 (35.3%)∗ | 17 (63.0%)∗ | |
| RCB unknown | 36 (67.9%) | 81 (75.0%) | |
| No. SLN dissected, median (IQR) | 3 (2-4.5) | 3 (2-4) | .493 |
| No. SLN involved, median (IQR) | 1 (1-1) | 1 (1-2) | .002 |
| Regional node irradiation | 40 (76.9%)∗ | 90 (86.5%)∗ | .171 |
Abbreviations: ALND = axillary lymph node dissection; IQR = interquartile range; RCB = residual cancer burden; SLNB = sentinel lymph node biopsy.
∗
Percentages calculated using the denominator of patients for whom this information was known.