ArticleAnnals of surgical oncology2021
Axillary Downstaging in Occult Primary Breast Cancer After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.
Article in Annals of surgical oncology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Best treatment options for occult breast cancer: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Pooled it
- Overall survival outcomes in occult primary breast cancer.Breast (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2026Article
- Occult Breast Carcinoma: Pathologic Features of an Uncommon Clinical Presentation in a Large Cohort.The American journal of surgical pathology · 2026Article
- Clipped Node Pathology as a Guide for Limited Axillary Surgery in Occult Breast Cancer.Annals of surgery · 2026Article
- Shifting from axillary dissection to targeted axillary surgery after neoadjuvant treatment: the evolving management of occult breast cancer in a monoinstitutional series of 114 patients.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2025Article
- Trends in management and related outcomes for occult primary breast cancer.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2025Article
- Pathological Complete Response with Neoadjuvant Trastuzumab, Pertuzumab, and Chemotherapy Followed by Modified Radical Mastectomy in a Patient with HER2-Positive Occult Breast Cancer.The American journal of case reports · 2024Article
- Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie Recommendations for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients with Early Breast Cancer: Update 2024.Breast care (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gynäkologische Onkologie Recommendations for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients with Early Breast Cancer: Update 2023.Breast care (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Survival analysis and nomogram for early-stage occult breast cancer with positive lymph nodes based on the SEER database.Annals of translational medicine · 2022Article
- AGO Recommendations for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Patients with Early Breast Cancer: Update 2022.Breast care (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- ASO Author Reflections: Avoiding an Axillary Lymph Node Dissection: The Benefit of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Occult Primary Breast Cancer.Annals of surgical oncology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundNeoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is increasingly used for clinically node-positive (cN+) tumors with intact primary breast cancer (IPBC) to downstage the axilla, and those who convert to cN0 may be eligible for sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). Rates of axillary downstaging in occult primary breast cancer (OPBC) are unknown.
objectiveThe aim of this study was to determine the frequency of nodal pathologic complete response (pCR) following NAC in a cohort of patients with OPBC.
methodsTwenty-eight patients with stage II/III OPBC treated between January 2008 and December 2019 were identified. Twenty patients had cN1-3 OPBC, pretreatment lymph node needle biopsy, and received NAC; these constituted the study population. Treatment factors and nodal pCR rates were summarized by tumor subtype.
resultsMedian age at diagnosis was 54 years. Most patients presented with cN1 disease (75%) and ductal histology (80%). Nodal pCR was seen in 16/20 (80%) patients. Eight (40%) patients were triple negative, 6 (30%) were estrogen receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (ER +/HER2 -), and 6 (30%) were HER2 positive, with pCR rates of 88%, 50%, and 100%, respectively. Among the 15 patients who presented as cN1, 14 (93%) converted to cN0 following NAC. Of these, nine underwent SLNB and all achieved nodal pCR (100%).
conclusionIn this small series, 80% of OPBC patients achieved nodal pCR following NAC. pCR rates varied by receptor profile, being lowest in the ER positive/HER2 negative group and highest in the HER2 positive group (50-100%); however, these rates are excellent and numerically exceed those in the literature for IPBC. Given the pCR rate, SLNB may be an option in select OPBC patients who downstage following NAC.
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