Breast cancer – extracapsular extension in the sentinel lymph node

Abstract

Invasive breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women. At present, in the majority of cases it is recognized at an early stage. Its most common site of metastasis is the axilla region, and for women without clinically suspected lymph nodes a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is the method of choice in diagnostics and treatment process. It allows, in many cases, axillary lymphadenectomy to be avoided and the risk of complications after a surgical treatment to be diminished. Extracapsular extension (ECE) of nodal metastasis, defined as extension of cancer cells through the nodal capsule, is an important prognostic factor. The aim of this paper is to review the literature on ECE in the sentinel lymph node (SLN).

Skin-sparing and nipple-sparing mastectomy with a positive sentinel node in patients with breast cancer

“…Most of them were in the group with extracapsular extension in the sentinel lymph nodes. Thus extracapsular extension in a sentinel lymph node can play a role in the therapeutical decisions and prognosis, but its role is rarely considered [11].…”