Evaluation of pre-surgical axillary ultrasound and pet CT imaging results and post-surgical axillary lymph node pathology results in breast cancer cases

Introduction: The most common cancer in women is breast cancer. Axillary lymph node (ALN) involvement is very important in the staging and prognosis of breast cancer. Therefore, ALN evaluation is one of the most important parameters in the planning of surgical treatments. Detection of ALN involvement with non-invasive diagnostic methods may prevent complications of invasive methods. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of USG and PET-CT in detecting ALN metastasis. Material and Methods: 78 female patients who were operated in the General Surgery Clinic of Hatay Mustafa Kemal University Hospital with the diagnosis of breast cancer were included in the study. A retrospective file scan was performed. Demographic information of the patients, preoperative breast and axillary region USG, PET-CT results, surgery information, and surgical specimen pathology results were scanned from our hospital's information system and evaluated. The efficacy of USG and PET-CT in detecting ALN metastasis was investigated by statistical analysis. Results: The sensitivity of USG for ALN metastasis was 62.7%, specificity 81.4%, positive predictive value 86.4%, negative predictive value 53.6%, false positive rate 18.5%, false negative rate 37.2%, the sensitivity of PET-CT for ALN metastasis is 76.4%, specificity 85.1%, positive predictive value 90.6%, negative predictive value 65.7%, false positive rate 14.8%, false negative rate 23,5% found as. The relationship between USG, PET-CT and pathology results in detecting ALN metastasis was statistically significant (p<0.001). Conclusion: The negative predictive value, sensitivity and specificity values of USG and PET-CT were not seen at sufficient levels in detecting ALN metastasis, and it was thought that they could not replace invasive methods alone. Keywords: Breast cancer, axillary metastasis, USG, PET-CT.