Impact of Ipsilateral Supraclavicular Lymph Node Dissection (ISLND) for Breast Cancer Patients and a Nomogram for Predicting Ipsilateral Supraclavicular Pathological Complete Response (ispCR)

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of ipsilateral supraclavicular lymph node dissection (ISLND) on the outcomes of breast cancer patients with ipsilateral supraclavicular lymph node metastasis (ISLNM), and to evaluate the prognostic value of ipsilateral supraclavicular pathological complete response (ispCR). Meanwhile, a nomogram was constructed to predict ispCR.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical documents of 353 patients with ISLNM but no distant metastasis at presentation. Based on whether ISLND was performed, patients were divided into radiotherapy (RT) and ISLND + RT groups. The impact of ISLND was evaluated after propensity score matching, and the prognostic value of ispCR was also analyzed. A nomogram to predict the probability of ispCR was constructed based on clinicopathologic variables.

Results: After propensity score matching, we found that the use of ISLND was associated with a higher rate of ipsilateral supraclavicular relapse-free survival (ISRFS; p < 0.0001). Among 307 patients who underwent ISLND, ispCR was associated with a higher rate of ISRFS and disease-free survival (p = 0.018 and p = 0.00033, respectively). Furthermore, the nomogram constructed with number of axillary lymph node metastases, breast pCR, size of the ipsilateral supraclavicular lymph nodes after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), number of NAC cycles, and Ki67 level showed a good fit for predicting ispCR.

Conclusion: For breast cancer patients with ISLNM but no distant metastasis, ISLND may be beneficial in some certain subtypes, and ispCR indicated a better prognosis. Our nomogram is well-fitted to predict the probability of achieving ispCR.