Survival rates for breast cancers detected in a community service screening mammogram program.

Background: This single-institution long-term prospective study was performed in the setting of community service screening mammography to evaluate the association between the methods of breast cancer detection and survival rates.

Methods: From 1994 through 2001, data on 1237 patients with breast cancer were collected concurrent with definitive surgical treatment and entered into a comprehensive database.

Results: Mammography was the sole method of detection for 517 (44%) of 1179 Tis-T2 breast cancers.

Axillary recurrence after sentinel node biopsy.

Background: Sentinel node biopsy (SNB) has evolved as the standard of care in the surgical staging of breast cancer. This technique is accurate for surgical staging of axillary nodal disease. We hypothesized that axillary recurrence after SNB is rare and that SNB may provide regional control in patients with microscopic nodal involvement.

Failure of sentinel lymph node mapping in patients with breast cancer.

Background: Lymphatic mapping with sentinel lymphadenectomy (SL) has become more widely used as an alternative to axillary dissection for the staging of breast cancer. This study was conducted to evaluate the potential associations of patient and tumor characteristics with the lymphatic mapping failure rate.

Study Design: Between September 1996 and April 2003, 1,094 breast cancer patients participated in a single-institution prospective SL protocol, which was conducted using technetium 99 m sulfur colloid alone to identify sentinel lymph nodes.