A new era of neoadjuvant treatment with Pertuzumab: Should the 10-lymph node guideline for axillary lymph node dissection in breast cancer be revised?

Background: Pertuzumab has improved pathologic complete response rates when compared with other chemotherapeutics in the treatment of HER-2 positive breast cancer patients.

Aims: We sought to determine if axillary lymph node dissections (ALNDs) yielding at least the national standard of 10 lymph nodes is lower in patients who received neoadjuvant pertuzumab.

Methods And Results: A retrospective database identified patients who underwent ALND for breast cancer.