Analysis of Long-term Prognosis and Cosmetic Outcomes of Breast-conserving Surgery Combined with Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy for Early-stage Breast Cancer

Yuedong Zhang

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¹ The People’s Hospital of Wuhai Inner Mongolia, Wuhai 016000, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China,

PAR 2026 , 10(1), 101–108; https://doi.org/10.26689/par.v10i1.13752

© 2026 by the Authors. Licensee Whioce Publishing, Singapore. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the long-term prognosis and postoperative cosmetic outcomes of breast-conserving surgery combined with sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with early-stage breast cancer, providing a reference for the selection of clinical treatment plans. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical data of 68 patients with early-stage breast cancer admitted from January 2022 to December 2025. Based on the surgical approach, patients were divided into an observation group (breast-conserving surgery + sentinel lymph node biopsy) and a control group (other surgical methods such as modified radical mastectomy/total mastectomy). Clinical and pathological characteristics, incidence of postoperative complications, follow-up prognosis, and satisfaction with cosmetic outcomes were compared between the two groups. Results: Among the 68 patients, 41 were in the observation group and 27 in the control group. The average age of patients in the observation group was (54.32 ± 8.15) years, while that in the control group was (62.45 ± 9.76) years. The average tumor size in the observation group was (1.86 ± 0.72) cm, compared to (3.21 ± 1.45) cm in the control group. The incidence of postoperative complications in the observation group was 9.76%, significantly lower than that in the control group at 33.33% (P < 0.05). The 6-month disease-free survival rate was 95.12% in the observation group and 88.89% in the control group, with no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). The excellent and good rate of cosmetic outcomes in the observation group was 87.80%, significantly higher than that in the control group at 29.63% (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Breast-conserving surgery combined with sentinel lymph node biopsy for early-stage breast cancer can achieve long-term prognostic outcomes comparable to those of traditional radical surgery, with the advantages of fewer postoperative complications and superior cosmetic results. This approach is worthy of clinical promotion and application, particularly for early-stage breast cancer patients who have a demand for preserving breast morphology.

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