Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico
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Axillary lymphadenectomy is nowadays not recommended to treat ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), but there is controversy surrounding the indication for sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). ⋯ Performing SLNB avoids an unnecessary second surgery to study axillary lymph nodes in invasive carcinoma diagnosed after definitive histological study. In patients undergoing a mastectomy, this study requires an axillary lymphadenectomy that is not useful in up to 50% of cases. We think that in a selected group of patients with DCIS, SLNB improves tumour staging, adapts the treatment and avoids second surgery in this group of patients.