Sentinel lymph node sampling and evaluation of ultimate pathologyresults in breast cancer patients who had no clinically and radiologically axillary involvement

Purpose: To compare the diagnosis, treatment and clinical results of patients who applied to Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine Hospital General Surgery Clinic with a diagnosis of breast cancer or who were diagnosed with breast cancer in our clinic and underwent per-operative sentinel lymph node biopsy (August 2020-December 2022). Material and method: The recorded data of the patients in the archive and hospital database of Gaziantep University Faculty of Medicine, Department of General Surgery were analyzed retrospectively. The research period was determined to include patients who were operated on with a diagnosis of breast cancer in our hospital between 24.08.2020 and 30.12.2022. In this period; age, presence of comorbidities, family history, smoking, histological grade, tumor size, tumor type, tumor stage, presence of distant metastasis, neoadjuvant treatment status, USG results, Ki-67 proliferation index, estrogen receptor status (ER), progesteron receptor status (PR), HER-2 positivity, tumor marker positivity, metastatic lymph node status in the axilla were compared. Results: In our study, axillary dissection was performed in only 41 (23.4%) of 175 patients, and the rest of 134 patients It was seen to protected from axillary dissection and related some complications. It was observed that patients with locally advanced stage and axilla involvement received neoadjuvant treatment and had a poor prognosis. The rate of axillary dissection was higher in this patient group and statistically significant results were obtained. (p<0.001) Conclusion: At the end of the study, according to these data, it is strongly recommended to perform per-operative SLNB for all breast cancer patients in order to relieve the healthcare system from excessive burden, to ensure faster recovery of patients and to avoid complications. Keywords: Axillary dissection,breast cancer,neoadjuvant chemotherapy, sentinel lymph node biopsy