• Susan Prendeville, Ciara Ryan, Linda Feeley, Fionnuala O'Connell, Tara Jane Browne, Martin J O'Sullivan, and Michael W Bennett.
• Department of Histopathology, Cork University Hospital, Wilton, Cork, Ireland.
• Breast. 2015 Jun 1; 24 (3): 197-200.

IntroductionThe role of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is controversial. This study evaluates the risk of clinically relevant SLN metastasis following a core needle biopsy (CNB) diagnosis of pure DCIS.Materials And MethodsCases that underwent SLNB following a CNB diagnosis of pure DCIS at our institution over a 4.5 year period were evaluated. Parameters including the DCIS characteristics on CNB, the rate of upstaging to invasive carcinoma at excision and the SLNB result were recorded.ResultsOf 296 patients with a CNB diagnosis DCIS, 181 had SLNB (62%). The rate of invasion at excision in those undergoing SLNB was 30% (54/181). SLN metastasis was detected in 7/181 cases (4%), including 6 cases with isolated tumour cells only (3.5%) and only 1 case with a macro-metastatic deposit (0.5%).ConclusionThe risk of clinically significant SLN metastasis following a CNB diagnosis of DCIS is extremely low, despite a relatively high rate of upstaging to invasive carcinoma at excision. Our findings support the opinion that SLNB is not warranted following a CNB diagnosis of DCIS, particularly for those patients undergoing breast conservation surgery.Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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