Sentinel lymph node biopsy in low risk settings.
BACKGROUND
Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) should be performed in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) undergoing mastectomy. Yet, the same logic is controversial in the setting of prophylactic mastectomy.


METHODS
Surgeons were surveyed as to their practices. Statistical analyses were performed to identify associated factors.


RESULTS
238 surgeons responded to the survey. 73.1% of respondents stated they would always perform SLNB in the setting of mastectomy for DCIS, but only 6.6% would always do so in the prophylactic setting. While generally perceived that the rate of SLN positivity in the setting of pure DCIS and prophylactic mastectomy was <5% (96.9% and 99.5%, respectively), 61.8% of surgeons who reported "always" performing SLNB in the setting of DCIS treated with mastectomy stated they "never" performed a SLNB for prophylactic mastectomy.


CONCLUSIONS
SLNB practice patterns for these low risk settings are disparate. Consensus is required to rationalize practice.
Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Marios Konstantinos
MK
Tasoulis
McPherson Medical and Surgical Associates, McPherson, KS, USA.
Tyler
T
Hughes
Department of Surgical Oncology and Radiology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA.
Gildy
G
Babiera
Department of Surgery, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. Electronic address: anees.chagpar@yale.edu.
Anees B
AB
Chagpar
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D018570:Risk Assessment; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy; D000071077:Surgical Oncology
DCIS; Low risk; Mastectomy; Prophylactic mastectomy; SLNB