Topics of randomized controlled trials in breast cancer surgery and the number of related nonrandomized studies
| Outcome comparison, topic | RCT study | No. patients in RCT | No. related article abstracts | No. full text nRCTs screened | No. nRCTs (patients) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ICB nerve dissection v. preservation | |||||
| 1. Sensory deficit (11), (12) | Freeman et al. (11) | 158 | 173 | 7 | 4 (410) (13)– (16) |
| Torresan et al. (12) | |||||
| ALND v. SLNB | |||||
| 2. Death (17)– (19) | Mansel et al. (17) | 2 167 | 4 351 | 18 | 1 (298) (30) |
| 3. Local recurrence (17)– (19) | Veronesi et al. (18) | 4 (4 481) (20)– (23) | |||
| Zavagno et al. (19) | |||||
| 4. Numbness (24), (25) | Fleissig et al. (24) | 1 127 | 391 | 44 | 1 (370) (26) |
| 5. Swelling (24), (25) | Purushotham et al. (25) | 1 (370) (26) | |||
| 6. Reduced arm mobility (24), (25) | 1 (370) (26) | ||||
| Mastectomy v. breast-conserving therapy | |||||
| 7. Death (27)– (30) | Veronesi et al. (27) | 2 561 | 3 047 | 43 | 10 (7 544) (31)– (38), (47), (48) |
| 8. Local recurrence (27)– (30) | Arriagada et al. (28) | 12 (12 537) (31)– (42) | |||
| Poggi et al. (29) | |||||
| Fisher et al. (30) | |||||
| Pectoral minor dissection v. preservation | |||||
| 9. No. lymph nodes removed (43) | Freitas-Júnior et al. (43) | 426 | 343 | 24 | 2 (789) (44), (45) |
| 10. Complications (43) | 1 (101) (46) | ||||
ALND = axillary lymph node dissection; ICB = intercostobrachial; nRCT = nonrandomized study; RCT = randomized controlled trial; SLNB = sentinel lymph node biopsy.