Key clinical point: Breast-conserving surgery without axillary lymph node dissection as well as breast and axillary radiotherapy (BCSNR) was safe and resulted in survival rates comparable to mastectomy plus axillary lymph node dissection (MALND) in elderly patients with axillary lymph node-negative breast cancer (BC).
Major finding: At a median follow-up of 5 years, BCSNR vs MALND was not associated with significantly worsened distant recurrence-free survival (98.1% vs 93.2%; P = .990) and BC-specific survival (96.3% vs 99.3%; P = .076) rates but was associated with a significantly higher local recurrence rate (10.3% vs 2.2%; P = .001).
Study details: Findings are from a retrospective study including 541 patients aged ≥70 years with axillary lymph node-negative BC, of which 181 and 360 patients underwent MALND with negative axillary cleaning and BCSNR, respectively.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences, China, and other sources. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Zhong Y et al. Breast-conserving surgery without axillary surgery and radiation versus mastectomy plus axillary dissection in elderly breast cancer patients: A retrospective study. Front Oncol. 2023;13:1126104 (Mar 20). Doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1126104