Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33805367›Full record

ReviewCancers2021

Surgical Management of the Axilla in Clinically Node-Positive Breast Cancer Patients Converting to Clinical Node Negativity through Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Current Status, Knowledge Gaps, and Rationale for the EUBREAST-03 AXSANA Study.

Maggie Banys-Paluchowski, Maria Luisa Gasparri, Jana de Boniface, Oreste Gentilini, Elmar Stickeler, Steffi Hartmann, Marc Thill, Isabel T Rubio, Rosa Di Micco, Eduard-Alexandru Bonci and 20 more

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Cancers, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04373655 (A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study to Evaluate Different Surgical Methods of Axillary Staging), which is not on this map. Cited by 93 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
93citing papers in PubMed, 7 pooled it
9.3field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04373655 recruitingnot on this map

A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study to Evaluate Different Surgical Methods of Axillary Staging (sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy, Targeted Axillary Dissection, Axillary Dissection) in Clinically Node-positive Breast Cancer Patients Treated with Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

Typeobservational_patient_registrySponsorEuropean Breast Cancer Research Association of Surgical TrialistsRan2020 to 2030Enrolled3,000ConditionsBreast Cancer
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

93 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 151 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. SEOM-GEICAM-SOLTI clinical guidelines for early-stage breast cancer (UPDATE 2025).Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
    Guideline
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
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  7. Pooled it
  8. Trial
  9. Review
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  15. RADar Reflector LocalisatIOn-SCOUTAnnals of surgical oncology · 2026
    Observational
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  20. Article

33 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

30 authors at 20 institutions in 18 countries.

Maggie Banys-PaluchowskiDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Campus Lübeck, University Hospital of Schleswig Holstein, 23538 Lübeck, Germany.
Maria Luisa GasparriDepartment of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Ospedale Regionale di Lugano, 6900 Lugano, Switzerland.
Jana de BonifaceDepartment of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0001-9518-0902
Oreste GentiliniBreast Surgery Unit, San Raffaele Hospital Milan, 20132 Milano MI, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-4489-1867
Elmar StickelerDepartment of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Steffi HartmannDepartment of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-0145-1589
Marc ThillDepartment of Gynecology and Gynecological Oncology, AGAPLESION Markus Krankenhaus, 60431 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Isabel T RubioBreast Surgical Unit, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, 28027 Madrid, Spain.
Rosa Di MiccoBreast Surgery Unit, San Raffaele Hospital Milan, 20132 Milano MI, Italy.
Eduard-Alexandru BonciDepartment of Surgical Oncology, "Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuță" Institute of Oncology, 400015 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.ORCID 0000-0001-5119-0906
Laura NiinikoskiBreast Surgery Unit, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Helsinki University Hospital, University of Helsinki, 00280 Helsinki, Finland.ORCID 0000-0002-0838-2918
Michalis Kontos1st Department of Surgery, Laiko Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece.ORCID 0000-0003-1686-7875
Guldeniz Karadeniz CakmakBreast and Endocrine Unit, General Surgery Department, Zonguldak BEUN The School of Medicine, Kozlu/Zonguldak 67600, Turkey.
Michael HauptmannBrandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, 16816 Neuruppin, Germany.
Florentia PeintingerInstitut für Pathologie, Medical University of Graz, 8010 Graz, Austria.
David PintoChampalimaud Clinical Center, Breast Unit, Champalimaud Foundation, 1400-038 Lisboa, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0002-7998-3366
Zoltan MatraiDepartment of Breast and Sarcoma Surgery, National Institute of Oncology, 1122 Budapest, Hungary.ORCID 0000-0001-8160-7100
Dawid MurawaCollegium Medicum, University of Zielona Góra, 65-046 Zielona Góra, Poland.ORCID 0000-0003-3156-1882
Geeta KadayaprathBreast Surgical Oncology and Oncoplastic Surgery, Max Institute of Cancer Care, Max Healthcare Delhi, Delhi 110092, India.
Lukas DostalekGynecologic Oncology Center, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, General University Hospital, 128 00 Prague, Czech Republic.ORCID 0000-0003-0151-4559
Helidon NinaOncology Hospital, University Hospital Center "Nene Tereza", 1000 Tirana, Albania.
Petr KrivorotkoPetrov Research Institute of Oncology, 197758 Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
Jean-Marc ClasseDepartment of surgical oncology, Institut de cancerologie de l'Ouest Nantes, 44800 Saint Herblain, France.ORCID 0000-0002-6167-5832
Ellen SchlichtingDepartment for Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Oslo University Hospital, 0188 Oslo, Norway.
Matilda AppelgrenDepartment of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Peter PaluchowskiDepartment of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Regio Klinikum Pinneberg, 25421 Pinneberg, Germany.
Christine SolbachBreast Center, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Frankfurt, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-8284-3199
Jens-Uwe BlohmerDepartment of Gynecology and Breast Cancer Center, Charite Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
Thorsten KühnDepartment of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Klinikum Esslingen, 73730 Esslingen, Germany.
The Axsana Study Group
Karolinska Institutet · SEAgaplesion Markus Hospital · DEBülent Ecevit University · TRChampalimaud Foundation · PTCharité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin · DECharles University · CZClinica Universidad de Navarra · ESGoethe University Frankfurt · DEInstitut de Cancérologie de l'Ouest · FRInstitute of Oncology NN Petrov · RUIuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy · ROKlinikum Esslingen · DEMax Healthcare · INMedical University of Graz · ATMedizinische Hochschule Brandenburg Theodor Fontane · DEMother Teresa Hospital · ALNational and Kapodistrian University of Athens · GRNational Institute of Oncology · HUOslo University Hospital · NOOspedale regionale di Lugano · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

In the last two decades, surgical methods for axillary staging in breast cancer patients have become less extensive, and full axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is confined to selected patients. In initially node-positive patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy, however, the optimal management remains unclear. Current guidelines vary widely, endorsing different strategies. We performed a literature review on axillary staging strategies and their place in international recommendations. This overview defines knowledge gaps associated with specific procedures, summarizes currently ongoing clinical trials that address these unsolved issues, and provides the rationale for further research. While some guidelines have already implemented surgical de-escalation, replacing ALND with, e.g., sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) or targeted axillary dissection (TAD) in cN+ patients converting to clinical node negativity, others recommend ALND. Numerous techniques are in use for tagging lymph node metastasis, but many questions regarding the marking technique, i.e., the optimal time for marker placement and the number of marked nodes, remain unanswered. The optimal number of SLNs to be excised also remains a matter of debate. Data on oncological safety and quality of life following different staging procedures are lacking. These results provide the rationale for the multinational prospective cohort study AXSANA initiated by EUBREAST, which started enrollment in June 2020 and aims at recruiting 3000 patients in 20 countries (NCT04373655; Funded by AGO-B, Claudia von Schilling Foundation for Breast Cancer Research, AWOgyn, EndoMag, Mammotome, and MeritMedical).

Indexed as

breast cancermarked lymph nodeneoadjuvant therapytargeted axillary dissectiontherapy response

Identifiers

PMID33805367
PMCPMC8037995
OpenAlexW3150705348

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.