Diagnostic value of applying preoperative breast ultrasound and clinicopathologic features to predict axillary lymph node burden in early invasive breast cancer: a study of 1247 patients.

backgroundSince the Z0011 trial, the assessment of axillary lymph node status has been redirected from the previous assessment of the occurrence of lymph node metastasis alone to the assessment of the degree of lymph node loading. Our aim was to apply preoperative breast ultrasound and clinicopathological features to predict the diagnostic value of axillary lymph node load in early invasive breast cancer.

methodsThe 1247 lesions were divided into a high lymph node burden group and a limited lymph node burden group according to axillary lymph node status. Univariate and multifactorial analyses were used to predict the differences in clinicopathological characteristics and breast ultrasound characteristics between the two groups with high and limited lymph node burden. Pathological findings were used as the gold standard.

resultsUnivariate analysis showed significant differences in ki-67, maximum diameter (MD), lesion distance from the nipple, lesion distance from the skin, MS, and some characteristic ultrasound features (P < 0.05). In multifactorial analysis, the ultrasound features of breast tumors that were associated with a high lymph node burden at the axilla included MD (odds ratio [OR], 1.043; P < 0.001), shape (OR, 2.422; P = 0.0018), hyperechoic halo (OR, 2.546; P < 0.001), shadowing in posterior features (OR, 2.155; P = 0.007), and suspicious lymph nodes on axillary ultrasound (OR, 1.418; P = 0.031). The five risk factors were used to build the predictive model, and it achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) of 0.702.

conclusionBreast ultrasound features and clinicopathological features are better predictors of high lymph node burden in early invasive breast cancer, and this prediction helps to develop more effective treatment plans.