European journal of surgical oncology : the journal of the European Society of Surgical Oncology and the British Association of Surgical Oncology
-
The aim of this study was to determine whether we could identify a subset of axillary clearance patients in whom the procedure yielded negative nodes and was therefore of no therapeutic benefit. ⋯ Preoperative ultrasound in conjunction with FNAC and clinical judgement identifies most patients with positive axillary nodes and such patients have more widespread disease. The additional value of completion axillary ANC in patients with ultrasonographically normal axillae but positive SNB appears small as sentinel node 'biopsy' serves to clear the axilla of metastases in most of these patients.