Study on the relationship between lymphovascular invasion and non-sentinel lymph node metastasis in early-stage breast cancer with positive sentinel lymph node / 肿瘤研究与临床

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the relationship between lymphovascular invasion and non-sentinel lymph node (NSLN) metastasis in early-stage invasive breast cancer with positive sentinel lymph node (SLN) and its significance.Methods:The clinicopathological data of 79 patients with stage cT 1-2N 0M 0 invasive breast cancer who had positive SLN by biopsy and underwent axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) from January 2015 to February 2021 in the Central Hospital of Wuhan were retrospectively analyzed. The correlation between patients' clinicopathological characteristics and NSLN metastasis was analyzed. Results:Among 79 patients, 58 patients (73.4%) underwent total mastectomy, 61 patients (77.2%) were Luminal type, 38 patients (48.1%) had lymphovascular invasion, 64 patients (81.0%) had 1-2 positive SLN, and 42 patients (53.2%) with NSLN metastasis were found after ALND. Univariate analysis showed that the proportions of patients with lymphovascular invasion diagnosed by immunohistochemistry [86.8% (33/38) vs. 51.2% (21/41)], Ki-67 positive index>30% [60.5% (23/38) vs. 36.6% (15/41)], positive human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 [36.8% (14/38) vs. 14.6% (6/41)], and elevated lymph node pathological staging [57.9% (22/38) vs. 31.7% (13/41)] in the lymphovascular invasion group were higher than those in the non-lymphovascular invasion group (all P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that lymphovascular invasion was an independent risk factor for NSLN metastasis ( OR = 2.935, 95% CI 1.081-7.970, P = 0.035). Conclusions:Lymphovascular invasion is an independent risk factor for NSLN metastasis in SLN-positive stage cT 1-2N 0M 0 invasive breast cancer. It may help to guide the decision-making of local axillary treatment, so as to avoid over or under treatment.