The Role of redo-Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in Patients With Prior Ipsilateral Breast Cancer Surgery

BackgroundSentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB) is used to stage the axilla, but there is limited data in patients with prior ipsilateral breast cancer. This study compares redo-SLNB (reSLNB) and Axillary node sample (ANS) in this sub-cohort of patients.Materials and MethodsThis is a retrospective study looking at patients with a new ipsilateral primary or recurrence with history of breast-conserving surgery. Planned and performed surgery, patient demographics and previous treatments were recorded. Node positivity and success rate of reSLNB was analyzed.ResultsA total of 86 patients were identified that had mastectomy for ipsilateral recurrent disease with radiologically negative axilla. Out of the 48 that had reSLNB, 35(72.9%) were successful. Nineteen percent of the reSLNB had positive axillae and 20% of the ANS patients. reSLNB success rate was significantly lower amongst patients with previous axillary surgery (P = .014) and previous positive nodes(P = .001).ConclusionreSLNB should be considered to restage the axilla in patients with previous history of ipsilateral cancer especially that there is growing evidence showing good identification rate.