Intraoperative axillary lymph node assessment in breast cancer

Bedside assessment of axillary lymph node metastases in breast cancer is no toriously inaccurate. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy of t he clinical assessment of the presence of axillary node metastases in patie nts with breast cancer, both at the bedside and intraoperatively. Intraoper ative assessment was significantly more accurate than bedside assessment, h aving an accuracy of 86%, compared with 66% of bedside clinical assessment. As axillary lymph node involvement is an important prognostic factor in br east cancer, this technique which has a high specificity and far higher sen sitivity than bedside clinical assessment and may have a valuable role to p lay in planning management. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.