Skip to main content

Volume 10 Supplement 3

Symposium Mammographicum 2008

  • Oral presentation
  • Published:

Ultrasound-guided axillary node core biopsy in the staging of newly diagnosed breast cancer

One hundred and thirty-nine patients with core biopsy (CB)-proven unilateral primary operable invasive breast cancer underwent axillary ultrasound. Lymph nodes were identified on ultrasound in 134 patients (96%), of which 121 (87%) underwent core biopsy. The morphology of all biopsied nodes was noted. Normal lymph node was obtained in 77 CBs, 25 (32%) of which were subsequently shown to have nodal metastases. The results are presented in Table 1. The CB sensitivity for nodes with normal ultrasound morphology was 12%, for those with unilobulated cortex was 64%, for those with multilobulated cortex was 77%, for those with absent hilum was 88% and for those with multilobulated cortex and absent hilum was 100%.

Table 1

In conclusion, the present study shows that an aggressive CB policy leads to an increase in sensitivity, but of relatively modest proportions, and is at the expense of a large number of normal biopsies. CB is insensitive at detecting micrometastases. CB of nodes with a normal ultrasound morphology is of little utility.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Britton, P., Goud, A., Barter, S. et al. Ultrasound-guided axillary node core biopsy in the staging of newly diagnosed breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res 10 (Suppl 3), P17 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1186/bcr2015

Download citation

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/bcr2015

Keywords