SynthesisBMC cancer2021
Prognostic significance of occult lymph node metastases in breast cancer: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC cancer, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Best treatment options for occult breast cancer: A meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2023Pooled it
- The effect of the number of negative lymph nodes removed during surgery on the survival and recurrence rates of patients with breast cancer after surgery.BMC surgery · 2026Article
- Development of a preoperative nomogram to identify low-risk early-stage breast cancer patients eligible for SLNB omission.World journal of surgical oncology · 2025Article
- Axillary lymph node metastasis in breast cancer: from historical axillary surgery to updated advances in the preoperative diagnosis and axillary management.BMC surgery · 2025Review
- Prognosis of nodal micrometastasis in resectable pN0 non-small cell lung cancer.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Development and Validation of a Nomogram for Axillary Lymph Node Metastasis Risk in Breast Cancer.Journal of Cancer · 2024Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer pathological stage at diagnosis in Tunisian patients.Breast disease · 2024Article
- Breast cancer: molecular mechanisms of underlying resistance and therapeutic approaches.American journal of cancer research · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOccult metastases in axillary lymph nodes have been reported to be associated with poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer. However, studies on the prognostic value of occult metastases have shown controversial results. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the prognostic significance of occult lymph node metastases in breast cancer.
methodsStudies published until May, 2020, which retrospectively examined negative lymph nodes by stepsectioning and/or immunohistochemistry, were retrieved from MEDLINE, EMBASE, CNKI, and Cochrane Library databases. The pooled Relative Risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (95% CI) for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) were calculated to examine the associations between occult metastases and prognosis.
resultsPatients with occult metastases in axillary lymph nodes had poorer five-year DFS (RR = 0.930; 95% CI = 0.907-0.954) and OS (RR = 0.972; 95% CI = 0.954-0.990). Furthermore, the DFS (RR = 0.887; 95% CI = 0.810-0.972) and OS (RR = 0.896; 95% CI = 0.856-0.939) of patients with occult metastases were significantly lower after a ten-year follow-up.
conclusionsOccult metastases in the axillary lymph nodes are associated with poorer DFS andOS of patients with breast cancer. Occult metastases might serve as a predictive factor of survival outcomes in patients with breast cancer.
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