Am. Leitch et al., Workgroup I - Treatment of the Axilla with Surgery and Radiation - Preoperative and postoperative risk assessment, CANCER, 83(12), 1998, pp. 2877
Although axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) is currently the standard of
care for the management of patients with invasive breast carcinoma, it can
be avoided in certain cases in which the lesions are low risk. For those p
atients for whom ALND is indicated, new surgical approaches as well as grea
ter care and attention to detail with current approaches to surgery and rad
iation to the axilla may reduce the risk of posttreatment lymphedema.