Background: There has been considerable debate on the management of the axilla in breast cancer patients with lymph node metastasis found on sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) following publication of the ACOSOG Z0011 study. This study conclude that axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) does not add any benefit to overall and disease free survival in some patients with positive SLNB. However it is not know if the patient characteristics of this study are transferable to other settings. A previous UK study has suggested that only a minority of patients from an academic specialist centre fit the ASOCOG Z0011 criteria and that the patient populations may not be comparable. The aim of our study was to assess the applicability of the Z0011 study to our patient population of a large District General Hospital in the UK and to what extent it should influence our practice.
Methods: The Z0011 eligibility criteria for inclusion in analysis were applied to all patients undergoing SLNB for invasive cancer at West Hertfordshire Breast Unit from 2007–2011. These were: no neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, clinical T1 and T2 tumours, breast conserving surgery followed by whole breast radiotherapy and 1–3 positive nodes on SLNB. Patent characteristics and results were compared using fisher's exact test.
Results: In our unit a total of 434 patients underwent SNLB of whom 64(14.7%) met the inclusion criteria of Z0011. Our patient population was comparable to that of Z0011 with regards to lymphovascular invasion, proportion of patients with micro-metastases and those with additional lymph nodes found on completion ALND. Our patients had significantly more T2 tumours. The only other statistically significant difference was in the proportion of estrogen receptor(ER) and progestrogen receptor (PR) positivity.
Conclusion: Only a small proportion (14%) of patients undergoing SNLB in our patient population fit the criteria for Z0011. This was a higher proportion than in the previous UK study of this type. Similar to this study we found the proportion of patients with T2 tumours were greater in our patient population compared to Z0011. This is most likely a reflection of this unit not being a screening centre and brings in to question the international generalisability of Z0011. However the only other significant difference in our patients was a lower risk profile in terms of hormone rector positivity with more ER/PR positive and fewer ER/PR negative patients. The implications of Z0011, will in our practice, not make a significant difference to the rate of ANLD. We are however considering changing our patient management based on the result of Z0011 and this current study of our population, to offer no further axillary surgery to patients over 50 with T1 and ER/PR positive tumours who otherwise fit the Z0011 protocol.
Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-07-01.
A multifunctional suppressor for both anion and cation chromatography has been designed. The suppressor comprises five thin chambers - an anion eluent suppressive chamber, a cation eluent suppressive chamber, a cathode chamber, an anode chamber, and a common electrode chamber, all of which are clipped together An electrochemical process - electrolysis of deionized water or detector effluent - is used to regenerate the suppressor for continuous operation. Two power sources are used to supply current. The device can work as an anion suppressor, a cation suppressor, or as both anion and cation suppressors, with high suppression capacity (60 mmol L-1) and good reproducibility (RSD = 0.80-0.91%) and linearity (r = 0.9992)
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