Study: Removal of Fewer Axillary Lymph Nodes Linked to Higher Recurrence

Removing fewer axillary (armpit) lymph nodes from patients who have breast cancer -- even when the nodes are negative -- may result in a higher recurrence rate unless the women also have follow-up chemotherapy treatment, according to researchers at the British Columbia Cancer Agency.

Researchers evaluated the link between the number of axillary lymph nodes removed and the recurrence of cancer in 2,278 women with node-negative invasive breast cancer. Two thirds of the women (1,468) did not have follow-up chemotherapy and 810 had follow-up systemic therapy.

In the group of women who did not receive systemic therapy, relapse was significantly higher -- and there was a trend toward shorter overall survival time -- among those who had fewer lymph nodes removed.

But node-negative patients who received follow-up chemotherapy therapy did not have a higher rate of relapse or shorter overall survival when fewer nodes were removed, according to the study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Researchers concluded that removing a small number of cancer-free lymph nodes may result in failure to discover traces of cancer that could be countered by follow-up chemotherapy.

Other Sources: Journal of Clinical Oncology