Impact on the reduction of morbidity using the sen-tinel node technique in patients with breast cancer

Original Research

Abstract

Introduction: Breast cancer affects more and more women worldwide. The types of surgical and chemotherapeutic treatment have evolved, consequently the correct evaluation of the primary tumor and the involved lymph nodes is necessary because it is an important prognostic factor and treatment. The sentinel lymph node technique evaluates the first node in receiving the lymphatic drainage of the tumor.

Methods: the objective was to determine its impact in patients with breast cancer in a quantitative, observational, non-experimental, correlational, retrospective, historical cohort study. We recovered 153 patients in two study groups, those who underwent the sentinel lymph node technique and those who underwent axillary lymphadenectomy.

Results: the most frequent histological type of breast cancer was the infiltrative ductal of histological grade 2, 76.4% and 73.6% of patients had positive estrogen and progesterone receptors respectively while the receptor 2 of human epidermal growth factor was positive in 16.9 %. The median number of metastatic lymph nodes was similar in the two groups, but not the number of free nodes 3. 14 respectively (p <0.001). In the study, morbidity was evidenced in 23.1% of patients who were sentinel lymph node biopsies, in contrast to 45.5% of those who did not undergo the procedure (p = 0.025), the most frequently associated morbidity was the edema of the extremity (27%).

Conclusions: lymphadenectomy was shown three times to develop morbidities compared to the sentinel lymph node technique.