About this episode
Picture this: a patient with early-stage breast cancer is sitting in front of you in the clinic. You are about to offer your expert management plan. The age-old question arises—should you really perform a sentinel lymph node biopsy, or could omission actually help this patient more? Today, we're tackling one of the hottest debates in modern breast cancer care.Should we rethink sentinel lymph node biopsy for select patients, and can skipping it actually improve quality of life without sacrificing cancer control? The stakes couldn’t be higher—balancing accurate cancer staging and minimizing harm is the name of the game. Together, we’re breaking down the latest evidence from the SOUND and INSEMA trials. What do these landmark studies mean for your patients, your practice, and the future of axillary management? Ready for a journal review that might just change your next consult? Hosts:- Rashmi Kumar, MD, PhDResident, University of Michigan General Surgery Residency ProgramTwitter/X: @RashmiJKumar- Melissa Pilewskie, MDAttending Breast Surgical Oncologist, Co-Director of the Weiser Family Center for Breast Cancer, Michigan Medicine Twitter/X: @MPilewskie- Stephanie Downs-Canner, MDAttending Breast Surgical Oncologist & Physician-Scientist, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Program Director of the Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship Training Program Twitter/X: @SDownsCannerLearning Objectives:- Understand when and for whom it is safe and beneficial to omit sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in early-stage breast cancer patients.- Identify the risks associated with foregoing SLNB, including loss of nodal staging, and analyze how this impacts treatment selection and prognosis.- Review key findings from the SOUND and INSEMA trials and their influence on axillary management.- Discuss implications for adjuvant therapy, genomic profiling, and multidisciplinary clinical practice.- Recognize which patient populations should still receive SLNB, and the importance of individualized, multidisciplinary decision-making.References:- Gentilini OD, Botteri E, Sangalli C, et al. Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy vs No Axillary Surgery in Patients With Small Breast Cancer and Negative Results on Ultrasonography of Axillary Lymph Nodes: The SOUND Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Oncol. 2023;9(11):1557–1564. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2023.3759 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37733364/- Reimer T, Stachs A, Veselinovic K, et al. Axillary surgery in breast cancer – primary results of the INSEMA trial. N Eng J Med. 2024. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2412063.
