Therapeutic attitude towards internal mammary chain drainage in patients with breast cancer.

Internal mammary chain (IMC) is one of the main local lymph drainages in breast cancer. However, internal mammary chain sentinel lymph node biopsy (IMC-SLNB) is not always performed. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the outcomes of IMC-SLNB in our institution from 2008 to 2014. We analyzed 1346 women with breast cancer. Six-hundred twenty-two sentinel node biopsies were carried out, one out of ten in IMC territory. Adjuvant radiotherapy in this area was added when positive. IMC-SLNB is feasible, it may change tumour stage, modify adjuvant therapy and change prognosis in selected patients.