Ambulatory sentinel lymph node biopsy preceding neoadjuvant therapy in patients with operable breast cancer: a preliminary study

BACKGROUND: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB)-oriented stepwise treatment under local anesthesia has been performed in the outpatient-ambulatory setting in patients receiving neoadjuvant therapy (NAT). We retrospectively reviewed our preliminary experience of ambulatory SNB in breast cancer patients scheduled to undergo NAT to evaluate the usefulness and feasibility of this method as a minimally invasive, stepwise treatment protocol. METHODS: We retrospectively identified 56 patients with breast cancer without obvious nodal involvement who were scheduled to receive NAT before breast surgery. SNB was performed under local anesthesia in an ambulatory outpatient setting before the initiation of NAT. RESULTS: The average number of removed sentinel lymph nodes was 1.9. Identification of the sentinel node was possible in all cases, and macrometastasis was observed in six cases (10.7%). Micrometastasis was observed in five cases, while isolated tumor cells were noted in six cases. There were no delays in the initiation of NAT as a result of complications of SNB. CONCLUSIONS: This pilot study demonstrated the safety and feasibility of ambulatory SNB prior to NAT. Further studies are warranted to assess the strict indications, patient satisfaction, and medical economics of this procedure.