Minimal Invasive Axillary Staging and Treatment After Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy in Node Positive Breast Cancer

Today, the majority of clinically node positive (cN+) breast cancer patients is treated with neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST). Axillary staging and treatment after NST in cN+ patients are areas of controversy. Patients with a pathological complete response (pCR) of the axillary lymph nodes are not expected to benefit from axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). Hence, less invasive axillary staging procedures are being introduced to avoid unnecessary ALND. However, evidence supporting the safety of replacing ALND by less invasive techniques in terms of oncologic safety and impact on quality of life (QoL) is lacking.