OBJECTIVE: The review was performed to answer the following research question: "In VPNs, are high amounts of arginine in PN, compared with low amounts of arginine, associated with appropriate circulating concentrations of arginine?" Therefore, the aims were to 1) quantify the relationship between parenteral arginine intakes and plasma arginine concentrations in PN-dependent VPNs; 2) identify any features of study design that affect this relationship; and 3) estimate the target parenteral arginine dose to achieve desirable preterm plasma arginine concentrations.
DATA SOURCES: The PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane databases were searched regardless of study design; review articles were not included.
DATA EXTRACTION: Only articles that discussed amino acid (AA) intake and measured plasma AA profile post PN in VPNs were included. Data were obtained using a data extraction checklist that was devised for the purpose of this review.
DATA ANALYSIS: Twelve articles met the inclusion criteria. The dose-concentration relationship of arginine content (%) and absolute arginine intake (mg/(kg × d)) with plasma arginine concentrations showed a significant positive correlation (P < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Future studies using AA solutions with arginine content of 17%-20% and protein intakes of 3.5-4.0 g/kg per day may be needed to achieve higher plasma arginine concentrations.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective review of patients with primary breast cancer and core biopsy proven metastatic ALNs, that had an excellent nodal radiological response following NACT, treated at our centre between January 2016 and December 2018. The initial cohort of patients (Group 1) underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), with a minimum of three nodes were sampled. The subsequent cohort (Group 2) had a marker clip inserted in the metastatic ALN prior to NACT. This cohort underwent wire guided excision of the clipped node in addition to SLNB, with a minimum of three nodes sampled.
RESULTS: A total of 47 patients were identified. Group 1 comprised 22 patients with a sentinel lymph node (SLN) identification rate (IR) of 95%. 25 patients (Group 2) underwent wire guided clip location and the SLN IR was 100% with a 92% clipped node IR. Evidence of pathological complete response (pCR) in the clipped node was associated with pCR in other nodes.
CONCLUSION: Targeted axillary dissection is a feasible technique following excellent response to NACT in selected patients with limited volume ALN metastasis, at diagnosis. The identification of the positive ALN during surgery is vital and the IR can be improved by clipping the node prior to NACT and wire guided localisation at the time of surgery.