Objective  To explore the effect of breast-conserving surgery combined with mastoscopic axillary lymph node dissection(MALND) on upper limb function, stress response, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) levels in breast cancer patients.

  Methods  The clinical data of 98 patients with breast cancer were retrospectively analyzed, and they were divided into study group (53 cases) and control group (45 cases) according to different surgical methods. The control group received breast-conserving surgery combined with traditional conventional axillarylymph node dissection (CALND), and the study group received breast-conserving surgery combined with MALND. The upper limb function before and 6 months after operation was compared between the two groups; Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores, heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) levels of two groups were collected before and 12 h after surgery, and stress response degree of two groups was compared; the VCAM-1and ICAM-1 levels were compared between two groups before surgery and 5 days after surgery.

  Results  Six months after surgery, the activity angles of flexion, extension, adduction, abduction, pronation and pronation in the study group were significantly larger than those in the control group (P < 0.05); at 12 h after operation, the scores of SAS and SDS, HR and MAP levels in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05); at 5 days after surgery, the levels of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1 in the study group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  Breast-conserving surgery combined with MALND has less influence on upper limb function of breast cancer patients, and the degree of postoperative stress response is lighter, which can effectively reduce the levels of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1.