Feasibility and oncological safety of axillary reverse mapping in patients with locally advanced breast cancer and partial response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy

background/aim: axillary reverse mapping (ARM) aims to identify and preserve arm drainage in order to prevent lymphedema following axillary lymph node dissection. oncological-safety and feasibility are still debated, especially in patients with locally-advanced breast cancer (LABC). we report the first case of the AXMAP 1.0 study performed in our Institution. patients and methods: a 52-year-old patient with a triple-negative LABC and partial response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy underwent axillary lymph-node dissection using fluorescence ARM. results: two lymph-nodes draining the ipsilateral upper arm were identified and were not preserved due to suspicion of malignancy. pathological examination confirmed the presence of malignancy in both lymph nodes. conclusion:further studies should be designed in order to validate the oncological safety of this technique, especially in patients with LABC requiring neoadjuvant chemotherapy.