Is routine axillary staging still required in clinically node negative early breast cancer in women over 74 years?

A total of 94% of patients >74 years with T1a/b, ER positive HER2 negative breast cancer were node negative. Nodal status significantly influences adjuvant treatment in this patient group and therefore, we recommend clinicians consider tumour factors and patient fitness in their decision making about SLN biopsy in the elderly population with hormone receptor positive early breast cancer.