Abstract P5-01-04: Contralateral Axillary Lymph Node Metastasis after Ipsilateral Breast Tumor Recurrence: Is it distant metastasis or locoregional progression?
Authors: Jung Ji-Jung , Moon Hyeong-Gon , Han Wonshik , Lee Han-Byoel , Kim Hong-Kyu , Chun Jung Whan , Kang Eunhye , Lim Changjin , Kim Jang-il , Yeoh Hyunsu 
Published: March 2023

Background: Contralateral axillary lymph node metastasis (CAM) in breast cancer is currently classified as a stage IV disease but its prognosis is still controversial. Purpose: To determine outcomes in overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with and without locoregional tumor recurrence who present with contralateral axillary lymph node metastasis (CAM). Methods: Patients with pathologically confirmed invasive breast cancer with metachronous CAM who received treatment between 1988 and 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with other distant metastases at the time of CAM diagnosis were excluded. The outcome of CAM in cases of IBTR and regional recurrence (RR) were compared to CAM not accompanied by locoregional tumor recurrence. Results: Thirty-eight patients with metachronous CAM were included in the study. Metachronous CAM occurred 55 months (interquartile range, 17-77 months) after surgical treatment of the primary tumor and median follow-up was 95 months (interquartile range, 49-117 months) from the initial operation date and 40 months (interquartile range, 15-54 months) from the diagnosis of CAM. At the time of initial CAM diagnosis, 11 patients had IBTR, 12 patients had RR, and 15 patients had no locoregional recurrence. The estimated 5-year OS was 49.1% and 5-year DFS was 45.3%. Although statistically insignificant due to small sample size, when stratified by loco regional recurrence, the prognosis of CAM patients with IBTR appeared to be better than those without locoregional recurrence (5-year OS: 88.9% vs. 41.4%, HR 5.88, p = 0.09) whereas the prognosis of CAM patients with RR was worse than those without locoregional recurrence (5-year OS: 35.4% vs. 41.4%, HR 0.44, p = 0.20). Axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) improved median OS (83 vs. 36 months, p = 0.069) in all patients. When stratified, improvement in median OS was 13 vs 27 months (p = 0.094) in patients with RR, and 36 vs. 65 months (p = 0.061) in patients without locoregional recurrence. For patients accompanied by IBTR, ALND was performed in 8 out of 11 and only one patient died during the follow-up period. Conclusion: Our study indicates that the patients with CAM have superior survival outcome when compared to other stage IV patients, especially when CAM was accompanied by other loco regional recurrences. These data suggest that the CAM patients may benefit from active loco regional treatment.

Citation Format: Ji-Jung Jung, Hyeong-Gon Moon, Wonshik Han, Han-Byoel Lee, Hong-Kyu Kim, Jung Whan Chun, Eunhye Kang, Changjin Lim, Jang-il Kim, Hyunsu Yeoh. Contralateral Axillary Lymph Node Metastasis after Ipsilateral Breast Tumor Recurrence: Is it distant metastasis or locoregional progression? [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 P5-01-04.