Published in:
01-11-2016 | Research Article
The appropriate axillary procedure after a positive sentinel node in breast cancer patients: the “Hôpital Tenon” score revisited. A two-institution study
Published in: Clinical and Translational Oncology | Issue 11/2016
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Introduction
Until recently, completion ALND has been considered the standard of care after a positive SN in breast cancer patients. However, most patients will not display further axillary involvement. The Tenon score is a simple nomogram that can be used intraoperatively to avoid completion ALND in low-risk patients. We aimed at validating the Tenon score on a SN-positive patient sample that had been preoperatively selected using axillary US examination.
Patients and method
We used a retrospective analysis of our bicentric database that included 246 breast cancer patients with a positive SN. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, as well as positive and negative predictive values for each cut-off point. ROCs were constructed and corresponding AUC values were calculated as a measure of discriminative capacity.
Results
At least one non-SN was positive in 52 patients (21.1 %). 118 patients (48 %) had a score up to 5. Among them, three had at least one positive non-SN. NPV was 97.5 %. Using that threshold, the ROCs analysis showed an AUC of 0.822 (95 % CI 0.764–0.880).
Conclusion
Use of preoperative axillary US examination led to a modification of the proposed Tenon cut-off value from 3.5 to 5 to attain good predictive power for non-SN status. Straightforward intraoperative use of the Tenon score may be considered an advantage over other available nomograms.