Background: Breast cancer operative management consists of breast surgery and axillary lymph node (ALN) assessment. ALN status is an important prognostic factor and determinant of breast cancer treatment.

Objective: To investigate preoperative ultrasound-guided axillary lymph node core needle biopsy (USACNB) accuracy in predicting ALN involvement for breast cancer.

Materials and Methods: This retrospective cohort study took place between February 2014 and May 2019. One hundred nine consecutive operable breast cancer patients with suspicious ALN involvement were assessed using preoperative USACNB and subsequent breast cancer surgery. Exclusion criteria were insufficient ALN tissue from USACNB for interpretation, previous breast or axillary surgery on the same side. Patients with preoperative histopathology results proving of metastasis underwent ALN dissection (ALND) while those with negative results had sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). When SLNB was positive, ALND was then performed. Preoperative USACNB accuracy was analyzed using SLNB or ALND pathological results as standard tests.

Results: The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of preoperative USACNB in evaluating ALN involvement was 87.5%, 100%, 100%, and 80.4%, respectively, with an accuracy of 91.7%.

Conclusion: Preoperative USACNB shows high diagnostic accuracy in ALN metastasis, but its NPV remains too low to completely rule out ALN involvement. Standard SLNB is still necessary in cases of negative USACNB.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Ultrasound guided core needle biopsy; Axillary lymph node

DOI: doi.org/10.35755/jmedassocthai.2021.06.12423

Received 22 February 2021 | Revised 19 April 2021 | Accepted 20 April 2021