Presentation of contralateral axillary involvement from breast cancer.

49 Background: Metastatic breast cancer to the contralateral axilla is defined as stage IV disease. We postulate that metastatic disease to the contralateral axilla is secondary to extension of aggressive, local regional disease rather than distant metastatic disease and may have a better outcome. Methods: An IRB-approved retrospective review of breast cancer cases presenting to a single institution between January 2005 and December 2011 was performed to identify cases with contralateral axillary disease. Eligibility for the study included unilateral primary breast cancer at presentation with synchronous/metachronous documented metastasis to the contralateral axilla without a documented primary invasive breast cancer within the contralateral breast by surgery or MRI. Clinicopathologic data was recorded for these patients (pts). Results: Thirteen pts were identified that fulfilled eligibility criteria. The average age was 53 years (range 26.3-72.2) with 12/13 (92%) pts presenting with a locally advanced br...