Radar reflectors for marking of target lymph nodes in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: A subgroup analysis of the prospective AXSANA (EUBREAST-03) trial.

Authors

null

Maggie Banys-Paluchowski

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital of Schleswig Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany

Maggie Banys-Paluchowski , Timo Basali , Steffi Hartmann , Jana de Boniface , Oreste Davide Gentilini , Elmar Stickeler , Christine Mau , Franziska Ruf , Sarah Froehlich , Maria Luisa Gasparri , Marc Thill , Florentia Peintinger , Guldeniz Karadeniz Cakmak , Isabel T. Rubio , Dagmar Langanke , Sonja Cardenas Ovalle , Sabine Riemer , Achim Rody , Ellen Schlichting , Thorsten Kuehn

Organizations

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital of Schleswig Holstein, Campus Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Klinikum Esslingen, Esslingen Am Neckar, Germany, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Rostock, Rostock, Germany, Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet and Department of Surgery, Capio St. Göran’s/Department of Surgery, Capio St. Göran’s Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, Breast Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute/Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan, Italy, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Aachen, Aachen, Germany, Aachen, Germany, Breast Cancer Center, Clinic for Gynecology and Obstetrics, Helios Klinikum Berlin-Buch, Berlin, Germany, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ospedale Regionale di Lugano EOC; Centro di Senologia della Svizzera Italiana (CSSI), Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Lugano; Faculty of Biomedical, Lugano, Switzerland, Department of Gynecology and Gynecological Oncology, AGAPLESION Markus Krankenhaus, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany, Universitätsklinik für Frauenheilkunde und Geburtshilfe, Graz & Institut für Pathologie, Med. Univ Graz, Graz, Austria, Zonguldak BEUN The School of Medicine, Breast and Endocrine Unit, General Surgery Department, Kozlu/Zonguldak, Turkey, Breast Surgical Unit, Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Madrid, Spain, St. Elisabeth KH Leipzig-Brustzentrum, Leipzig, Germany, Ev. Waldkrankenhaus Spandau, Berlin, Germany, St. Joseph Stift Bremen, Bremen, Germany, Luebeck University, Lübeck, Germany, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway, Breast Cancer Center, Die Filderklinik, Filderstadt; University of Ulm, Filderstadt/Ulm, Germany

Research Funding

Claudia von Schlichting Breast Cancer Foundation
Ehmann Stiftung, Merit Medical, Endomag, Mammotome, AGO-B, AWOGyn, GBG (German Breast Group), Eugen und Irmgard Hahn Foundation

Background: Surgical staging procedures of the axilla in breast cancer patients converting from a clinically positive (cN+) to a clinically negative (ycN0) lymph node status during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) vary across countries. The international prospective AXSANA study aims at comparatively evaluating outcomes of different procedures such as axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), target lymph node biopsy (TLNB), and targeted axillary dissection (TAD). In this subgroup analysis, we report on the largest prospective cohort of patients receiving a radar reflector for TLN marking prior to NACT. Methods: AXSANA is a cohort study including cN+ → ycN0 patients treated with NACT. Eligible patients initially have cT1-4c tumors. In the present analysis, only patients with a TLN marked by a radar reflector were included. We examined the retrieval rate of radar reflectors and the identification rate of the TLN (defined as unequivocal removal of the lymph node, i.e., lymphatic tissue in the TLN specimen and/or pathological confirmation of changes typical for metastatic nodes responding to treatment). Results: A TLN was marked using a radar reflector in 123 patients prior to NACT. Most patients (n = 64, 52.0%) had one suspicious node at time of diagnosis, followed by two (n = 32, 26.0%), three (n = 22, 17.9%) or ≥ 4 suspicious nodes (n = 5, 4.1%). In 5 out of 22 (23%) patients who had a MRI during NACT, artifacts were visible and limited tumor assessment in one patient. Out of the 123 patients with radar reflector marked TLN, 93 (75.6%) had undergone final surgery at the time of analysis, 75 of whom (80.6%) had converted to ycN0. Most patients had undergone a TAD (n = 86, 92.5%), followed by ALND in 3.2% of cases (n = 3) and TLNB (n = 1, 1.1%). 3 patients received other procedures, such as combined TLNB / ALND. In 83 out of 85 patients (98%) with available postoperative histopathology, the TLN was unequivocally identified and removed. In one patient, no lymphatic tissue was identifiable in the tissue specimen containing radar reflector, so it remains unclear whether the TLN was excised, or the reflector had dislocated. In another patient, the radar reflector was not identified intraoperatively but postoperative computed tomography confirmed removal. Thus, no radar reflectors were left behind. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest prospective series of patients receiving a radar reflector for the marking of TLN prior to NACT for breast cancer, demonstrating very high detection and removal rates of TLN and marker. Radar reflectors are a reliable tool for marking of TLNs in the neoadjuvant setting. Clinical trial information: NCT04373655.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2024 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Poster Session

Session Title

Breast Cancer—Local/Regional/Adjuvant

Track

Breast Cancer

Sub Track

Local-Regional Therapy

Clinical Trial Registration Number

NCT 04373655

Citation

J Clin Oncol 42, 2024 (suppl 16; abstr 579)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2024.42.16_suppl.579

Abstract #

579

Poster Bd #

171

Abstract Disclosures