Key clinical point: Tumor involvement within the axillary soft tissue extending beyond the positive lymph node (LN+) and extracapsular extension (ECE) should be pathologically evaluated in patients with LN+ breast cancer (BC) as it is a significant predictor of worsened prognostic outcomes for this population.
Major finding: Axillary soft tissue involvement is significantly associated with worsened distant failure (hazard ratio [HR] 1.6; P < .001), locoregional failure (HR 2.3; P < .001), and axillary failure (HR 3.3; P = .003). The delivery of regional lymph node radiation improved the locoregional tumor outcomes in patients with axillary soft tissue involvement, ECE, or both (HR 0.5; P = .03).
Study details: Findings are from a retrospective review including 2162 patients with LN+ invasive BC tumors.
Disclosures: One author declared receiving financial support for this study. Two authors declared being employees of, receiving research funding, or honoraria from, or having other ties with various sources.
Source: Naoum GE, Oladero O, et al. Pathological exploration of the axillary soft tissue microenvironment and its impact on axillary management and breast cancer outcomes. J Clin Oncol. 2023 (Nov 15). doi: 10.1200/JCO.23.01009