Success in sentinel lymph node procedures in obese patients with breast cancer.

BACKGROUND

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy for axillary staging in breast cancer is technically more demanding but of added benefit in obese patients. This retrospective review compares variables and outcomes of SLN staging in obese and nonobese women.

METHODS

From 235 total SLN cases, demographics and clinical and procedural variables were collected and compared in obese (body mass index [BMI] of ≥ 35, n = 28) and nonobese (BMI ≤ 25 [n = 84]) patients.

RESULTS

Overall, the intraoperative false-negative rate was 13.6% and failure to identify SLN occurred in 2 cases (.85%). Although no differences in patient or tumor characteristics were found, obese patients had significantly lower external hotspot counts, first sentinel node counts, and fewer sentinel nodes recovered when compared with the nonobese.

CONCLUSIONS

SLN procedures are successful and accurate for axillary staging in obese women and avoid the added morbidity of axillary lymph node dissection in this higher risk population.