Breast cancer larger than 2.5 cm with tumor-free radioisotope-hot sentinel nodes has higher risk of non-hot axillary lymph node metastasis.

Background: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is the standard axillary staging approach for early breast cancer with clinically negative axillary involvement. Adequate SLNB should include the removal of not only radioactive tracer-labeled lymph nodes (hot nodes or SLNs) but also suspicious unlabeled nodes (non-hot nodes or non-SLNs). However, the biopsy of non-hot nodes is highly dependent on the surgeons' experiences.

Low body mass index is an independent risk factor of locoregional recurrence in women with breast cancer undergoing breast conserving therapy.

Background: To investigate the risk factors and prognosis for locoregional recurrence (LRR) after breast conserving treatment (BCT) in women with early breast cancer.

Methods: Women who had undergone BCT from 1998 to 2005 at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. LRR was defined as the reappearance of invasive carcinoma in the treated breast and/or ipsilateral axillary lymph node (ALN).