Background: The purpose of this study was to assess our clinical impression that fewer lymph nodes are retrieved after level I and II axillary dissection after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and whether there is a positive correlation between the total number of lymph nodes retrieved and the number of diseased lymph nodes.
Methods: Patients included those with stage IIB, IIIA, and IIIB breast cancer of whom 77 had neoadjuvant chemotherapy and 58 had initial surgery only. All had modified radical mastectomy with in continuity level I and II axillary dissection.