Abstract P3-05-47: Regional Lymph node percutaneous analysis in patients with breast cancer
Authors: Diogenes Marina , MATTAR ANDRE , Amorim Andressa , Sawada Maria Isabela Caldas , Gebrim Luiz Henrique , Shida Jorge 
Published: March 2023

Background: The evaluation of regional lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer is one of the main predictive and prognostic factors for treatment. The most frequently methods of percutaneous evaluation for suspicious lymph nodes are fine needle aspiration (FNA) and core needle biopsy (CNB). According to the international literature, CNB and FNA are considered diagnostic methods with high specificity (98% vs. 99%), however FNA can present up to 21% of inconclusive results due to insufficient material, which leads to recall and delay in treatment approach. Although CNB is well established as a percutaneous method for the diagnostic evaluation of suspicious breast lesions, the literature is still scarce regarding the use of this method for the evaluation of suspicious regional lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer. Objectives: To analyze the results of percutaneous biopsies performed in suspected lymph nodes according to the topography and the type of needle used, and to verify the preferred method used. Methods: This was a retrospective study evaluating a public Hospital in São Paulo – Brazil (Pérola Byington Hospital database). Patients who underwent ultrasound-guided percutaneous lymph node biopsy from May 2015 to November 2017 were included. Data were analyzed and the type of biopsy (FNA or CNB) and the results were analyzed. Results: 106 medical records of patients with previous breast cancer and that underwent lymph node biopsy were reviewed. The mean age was 54.7 years (SD±12.4) in the CNB group and 54.7 years (SD±10.8) in the FNA group. Most of the patients were submitted to CNB (66% - 71 patients) and 34% were evaluated with FNA (35 patients). According to the topography of the lymph nodes, 80% were in the axilla (n=84), 10% in the supraclavicular region (n=11) and 10% in the cervical region (n=11). When analyzing the FNA results, 31% did not present sufficient material (n=11), 37% were malignant (n=13), 20% were benign (n=7) and 12% showed cellular atypia (n=12). Among the CNB performed in suspected lymph nodes, 53% were malignant (n=38) and 31% were benign (n=33), and no one had insufficient material. There were no reports of complications related to the procedures. In the insufficient material group, 27% (n=3) of the patients underwent a new percutaneous biopsy (2 CNB with malignant result and 1 FNA with inconclusive result) and 73% (8) were maintained in follow-up. The mean follow-up time was 24 months, and clinical and imaging stability was confirmed after this period. In the CNB group with malignant result, 10% (4) were diagnosed with neoplasia of other sites (cervix, lymphoma, melanoma and gastrointestinal), 78% (30) presented immunohistochemistry in agreement with that of the breast, 3% (1) presented different immunohistochemistry and in 9% (3) this evaluation was not performed. Conclusion: CNB was the preferred diagnostic method in our Hospital (66% vs 34%), being considered a viable procedure to evaluate lymph nodes in various topographies and with low rates of inconclusive results. Besides that, immunohistochemistry was done in 91% of the cases showing the importance of this analysis in the treatment of the recurrence or even in the diagnosis of other primary tumors. In the future, studies that assess indirect costs may confirm the applicability of CNB in patients with suspicious lymph nodes in terms of achieving greater agility and resolution.

Citation Format: Marina Diogenes, ANDRE MATTAR, Andressa Amorim, Maria Isabela Caldas Sawada, Luiz Henrique Gebrim, Jorge Shida. Regional Lymph node percutaneous analysis in patients with breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-05-47.