Purpose: to evaluate the efficacy of conservative axillary dissection (levels I and II) in the surgical treatment of stage I breast cancer. Methods: the results of 142 mastectomies performed from January/93 to December/98 in patients with clinical stage I breast cancer (T1NO) were evaluated. Removing the axillary lymph nodes present at levels I and II, with the preservation of the pectoralis muscles, the axillary lymph nodes were dissected by the author (LAGB), and subsequently one section of each lymph node was histopathologically evaluated. Quadrantectomy was performed in 138 cases and modified mastectomy (Patey), in 4 cases. The predominance of the T1c (130 cases) was observed. Results: a total of 3,282 lymph nodes were removed (2,456 at level I and 826 at level II), with an average of 23.1 nodes per axilla. Only 68 were histologically involved (2%). "Skip" metastasis was present only in one case (0.7%). Thirty-five false negative cases were observed (24.6%), with involvement of level I in 34 cases (97.1%) and of level II in 2 cases (5.7%). We observed 107 cases with negative axillary lymph nodes (75.4%). Conclusion: the axillary dissection of levels I and II is sufficient to treat the axilla in clinical stage I breast cancer. In clinical stage II and III of the disease, the complete axillary dissection including levels I, II and III is indicated. The interpectoral Rotter group will be removed if surgically suspicious.
Breast cancer; Axillary dissection