INTRODUCTIONBreast malignancies are the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality among women. As the size of the primary breast cancer increases, some cancer cells are shed into cellular spaces and transported via the lymphatic network of the breast to the regional lymph nodes, especially the axillary lymph nodes. Cancer cells may grow through the lymph node capsule and fix to contiguous structures in the axilla, including the chest wall. Typically, axillary lymph nodes are involved sequentially from the low (level I) to the central (level II) to the apical (level III) lymph node groups. Approximately 95% of the women who die of breast cancer have distant metastases, and traditionally the most important prognostic correlate of disease-free and overall survival was axillary lymph node status. Women with node-negative disease had less than a 30% risk of recurrence, compared with as much as a 75% risk for women with node-positive disease.
1,2The status of axillary lymph node metastasis, in addition to being the most important prognostic factor in this group of patients, has a critical place in the management ABSTRACT Background: Breast malignancies are the second most common cause of cancer-related mortality among women. As the size of the primary breast cancer increases, some cancer cells are shed into cellular spaces and transported via the lymphatic network of the breast to the regional lymph nodes, especially the axillary lymph nodes. Objective of the study was to determine the accuracy of USG and US-FNAC in detecting lymph node metastasis in a clinically lymph node negative CA Breast patient. Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 40 consecutive patients with biopsy proven breast cancer with clinically negative axilla, who had attending the OPD or IPD in our department of surgery, Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital, Allahabad, during the period of 2014 to 2015. All of these patients were planned to undergo surgery (breast conservation or modified radical mastectomy with axillary clearance). Results: Sensitivity of the study = 97.77%, specificity = 25%, positive predictive value =92.01%, negative predictive value =50%, diagnostic accuracy =90%. Conclusions: Using axillary ultrasound and selective US-FNAC is a rapid, non-morbid method of staging the axilla in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and should become a routine part of patient care because it can spare many patients particularly those who are undergoing axillary dissection.