The relevance of internal mammary lymphoscintigraphy in the management of breast carcinoma.

The incidence, implications, and significance of an abnormal internal mammary lymphoscintigram (IML) in 981 breast carcinoma patients without histologic or clinical evidence of axillary metastases is reported. A 13%-16% incidence of parasternal abnormality in patients with early, operable disease correlates well with clinical data. The statistically significant increase, with P consistently less than or equal to 0.005, in incidence of local or distant relapse associated with an abnormal IML when compared to the normal IML emphasizes the value of the procedure as a marker. These results indicate that patients with negative axillae but an abnormal IML should be considered to have stage II disease and should be offered adjuvant therapy. The significance of the IML in determining the true extent of disease in patients with apparent local relapse as well as the prognostic implications of an abnormal IML in 311 patients seen initially with recurrent breast carcinoma is also reported.