Objective: To evaluate the utility of ultrasound (US)-guided needle biopsy of ultrasonographic abnormal axillary lymph nodes in the patients with breast cancer.
Methods: The pathological results of US-guided needle biopsy and clinical data of 395 primary breast cancer patients with ultrasonographic abnormal axillary nodes, all female, aged 24 - 83, were analyzed retrospectively.
Results: Node metastasis were detected in 277 (70.1%) cases by mean of ultrasound-guided needle biopsy. Among 136 patients with clinical N(0) breast cancer, 65 (47.8%) were proved node positive. Sixty-two patients were diagnosed as pathologically negative by needle biopsy and underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy or axillary lymph node clearance, and pathological examination showed negative axillary lymph node negative. The complete pathological complete remission rate of the metastatic lymph nodes after new adjuvant chemotherapy was 32.3% (62/192).
Conclusion: Ultrasonographic examination of axilla combined with ultrasound-guided needle biopsy of suspicious axillary node is valuable in primary breast cancer treatment.