title: [Internal mammary lymph node invasion in breast cancer: myth or reality?].
abstract: The internal mammary nodes are often underestimated as breast cancer lymphatic pathway spread. It is yet the first site of lymphatic invasion in central or internal tumors and the second site in external tumors. The intra-thoracic situation of internal mammary nodes explains partly, the difficulty of its exploration. To evaluate the risk of internal mammary node invasion, some predictive factors are established (tumor size, internal or central tumor location, axillary node invasion and young age). Prognostic and therapeutic impact of invasion justifies its systematic research. Without exploring internal mammary nodes status, TNM classification remains, incomplete. CT scanner, magnetic resonnance imaging, positron emission tomography scanner and sentinel node exploration technique are helpful to explore this region and to adapt its irradiation.
authors.affiliation: Service de Radiothérapie Carcinologique, Institut Salah Azaiz, Faculté de médecine de Monastir, Monastir.
authors.forename: Mongi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maalej
authors.forename: Walid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gargouri
authors.forename: Lotfi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kochbati
authors.forename: Chiraz
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nasr
authors.forename: Hatem
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Frikha
authors.forename: Dalenda
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hentati
authors.forename: Noomène
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Elkadri
authors.forename: Tarek
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kraiem
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chebbi
authors.forename: Amor
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saadi
authors.forename: Karima
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mrad
authors.forename: Abdelfattah
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zakhama
authors.forename: Monia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hechiche
authors.forename: Khaled
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ben Romdhane
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness