What is the role of axillary lymph node dissection, if any, in breast cancer treatment?

Breast Breast Cancer Management Chemotherapy Clinical trials Drug development For clinicians For researchers Journal articles Opinion Radiation oncology

In 2013, more than 230,000 women were predicted to be diagnosed with breast cancer. Approximately 90% of these patients will present without evidence of distant metastases [1].

The management of the axillary lymph nodes has been the subject of intense study and ongoing debate over the past few decades. Presentation of the European Phase III EORTC AMAROS trial results at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology has reignited the heated debate in this area [2]. Despite growing high-level evidence, generated over the past three decades, that increasingly calls into question the role of surgical axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in the management of breast cancer patients, there is currently no universal consensus regarding this aspect of breast cancer treatment.

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