Annals of surgical oncology
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Regional failure rates are low in patients with a positive sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) who undergo breast-conserving therapy without axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). The applicability of these findings to total mastectomy (TM) patients is not established. Our aims were to evaluate the characteristics and outcomes of SLNB-positive TM patients who did not receive axillary-specific treatment and to compare them to similar patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery (BCS). ⋯ Early-stage breast cancer patients with minimal sentinel node disease experience excellent outcomes without ALND, whether they undergo BCS or TM.