Targeted Axillary Dissection (TAD) in Early-stage Node Positive Breast Cancer

RATIONALE: It is now standard for most breast cancer patients with 1-2 positive sentinel nodes to avoid completion node dissection when eligibility criteria from the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG) Z0011 trial are met. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) recently proposed to extend this indication to patients that present with biopsy proven node positive disease if only 1 or 2 suspicious nodes are found on imaging, these positive nodes are not palpable clinically, and the other eligibility criteria from the Z0011 study are otherwise met. However, this recommendation is based on an expert consensus and no study has yet confirmed the optimal method to stage the axilla in this patient population. PURPOSE: Evaluate the technical success rate and accuracy of sentinel node biopsy (SNB) and the potential benefits of clipping and removing the biopsy proven node using radioactive seed localisation (RSL) (SNB+RSL = Targeted Axillary Dissection (TAD)) in patients with biopsy proven positive nodes, limited nodal disease in imaging and clinically negative axillary examination.

Sex

Female

Minimum age

18 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

* Participants must be ≥ 18 years old.
* Participants with a clinical T1 or T2 invasive ductal or lobular breast carcinoma, regardless of estrogen/progesterone/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) receptor status.
* Participants with clinical (on palpation) N0 and up to two suspicious lymph nodes on axillary ultrasound.
* Participant with biopsy-proven positive axillary disease made by core needle biopsy or fine-needle aspiration.
* Participants must have an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Scale of Performance Status less than 2.
* Participants must understand, accept, and have signed the approved consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Participant with previous ipsilateral axillary surgery, including sentinel lymph node biopsy.
* Participants with distant metastases.
* Participants that have had previous radiotherapy to the axillary nodes.
* Participants who received neoadjuvant therapy.
* If the injection of blue dye is planned, patients with hypersensitivity or allergy to isosulfan blue, patent blue, methylene blue or radiocolloid dye.
* Participants who are unable to provide informed consent.

• BACKGROUNDSiegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer statistics, 2019. CA Cancer J Clin. 2019 Jan;69(1):7-34. doi: 10.3322/caac.21551. Epub 2019 Jan 8. PMID 30620402
• BACKGROUNDGiuliano AE, McCall L, Beitsch P, Whitworth PW, Blumencranz P, Leitch AM, Saha S, Hunt KK, Morrow M, Ballman K. Locoregional recurrence after sentinel lymph node dissection with or without axillary dissection in patients with sentinel lymph node metastases: the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group Z0011 randomized trial. Ann Surg. 2010 Sep;252(3):426-32; discussion 432-3. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0b013e3181f08f32. PMID 20739842
• BACKGROUNDMansel RE, Fallowfield L, Kissin M, Goyal A, Newcombe RG, Dixon JM, Yiangou C, Horgan K, Bundred N, Monypenny I, England D, Sibbering M, Abdullah TI, Barr L, Chetty U, Sinnett DH, Fleissig A, Clarke D, Ell PJ. Randomized multicenter trial of sentinel node biopsy versus standard axillary treatment in operable breast cancer: the ALMANAC Trial. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 May 3;98(9):599-609. doi: 10.1093/jnci/djj158. PMID 16670385
• BACKGROUNDKrag DN, Anderson SJ, Julian TB, Brown AM, Harlow SP, Costantino JP, Ashikaga T, Weaver DL, Mamounas EP, Jalovec LM, Frazier TG, Noyes RD, Robidoux A, Scarth HM, Wolmark N. Sentinel-lymph-node resection compared with conventional axillary-lymph-node dissection in clinically node-negative patients with breast cancer: overall survival findings from the NSABP B-32 randomised phase 3 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2010 Oct;11(10):927-33. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(10)70207-2. PMID 20863759
• BACKGROUNDGiuliano AE, Ballman KV, McCall L, Beitsch PD, Brennan MB, Kelemen PR, Ollila DW, Hansen NM, Whitworth PW, Blumencranz PW, Leitch AM, Saha S, Hunt KK, Morrow M. Effect of Axillary Dissection vs No Axillary Dissection on 10-Year Overall Survival Among Women With Invasive Breast Cancer and Sentinel Node Metastasis: The ACOSOG Z0011 (Alliance) Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2017 Sep 12;318(10):918-926. doi: 10.1001/jama.2017.11470. PMID 28898379
• Benson AB, Venook AP, Al-Hawary MM, Arain MA, Chen YJ, Ciombor KK, Cohen SA, Cooper HS, Deming DA, Garrido-Laguna I, Grem JL, Hoffe SE, Hubbard J, Hunt S, Kamel A, Kirilcuk N, Krishnamurthi S, Messersmith WA, Meyerhardt J, Miller ED, Mulcahy MF, Nurkin S, Overman MJ, Parikh A, Patel H, Pedersen KS, Saltz LB, Schneider C, Shibata D, Skibber JM, Sofocleous CT, Stoffel EM, Stotsky-Himelfarb E, Willett CG, Johnson-Chilla A, Gregory KM, Gurski LA. Small Bowel Adenocarcinoma, Version 1.2020, NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2019 Sep 1;17(9):1109-1133. doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2019.0043.