TY - JOUR A1 - Rosso, Kelly A1 - Nathanson, S A1 - Chitale, Dhananjay A1 - Mahan, Meredith T1 - The relationship between sentinel lymph node metastasis size, extracapsular extension and survival in breast cancer Y1 - 2014/5/1 JF - Archives of International Surgery JO - Arch Int Surg SP - 78 EP - 84 VL - 4 IS - 2 UR - https://www.archintsurg.org/article.asp?issn=2278-9596;year=2014;volume=4;issue=2;spage=78;epage=84;aulast=Rosso DO - 10.4103/2278-9596.143083 N2 - Background: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) tumor metastasis size (TMS) and extra-capsular extension (ECE) are predictive of non-SLN metastasis. We hypothesized that SLNTMS and ECE would also be predictive of systemic metastasis and death. Materials and Methods: Data from 2,001 women with breast cancer who underwent SLN biopsy were prospectively collected and retrospectively analyzed. SLNTMS and ECE were measured, reported according to standard pathologic protocols and recorded. Data were analyzed from 252 patients with both SLNTMS and ECE information available. Cancer-specific mortality and all-cause mortality were observed, calculated and multivariable analyses performed to identify significant interacting variables amongst demographics, clinical stage and pathological characteristics. Results: Thirty eight treated patients died from any cause and 12 died of cancer during the 16.4 year follow-up. Patients with ER expression had a significantly lower risk of dying of cancer compared to those who lacked ER expression (HR = 0.198, 95% CI 0.06-0.62; P = 0.006). SLNTMS (P = 0.929 and 0.677) and ECE (P = 0.723 and 0.926) were not significant in the multivariable models of either disease specific or all-cause mortality. Conclusion: Neither SLNTMS nor the presence of ECE affected disease-specific or overall mortality in our breast cancer patients. ER -