Cancer
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The timing and accuracy of axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in patients who are receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) for breast cancer are controversial. To examine the accuracy of SLNB after NACT, the authors performed SLNB after chemotherapy on all of patients who received NACT at their institution starting in January 1997. ⋯ SLNB after NACT was feasible in virtually all patients and accurately selected patients who required complete level I and II axillary dissection. NACT frequently downstaged the axilla, converting patients with N1-N2 lymph node status to N0 status and also avoiding full axillary dissection in these patients.