The finding may spare tens of thousands of women the pain and years of side effects related to the common procedure.
Researchers, led by Armando Giuliano of Saint John's Health Center, analysed two procedures in 850 women with invasive breast cancer who had their tumors removed and underwent radiation and chemotherapy.
A woman has a mammogram to check for breast cancer. Thousands of women with the condition could be saved radical lymph node surgery, say experts
They found women with breast cancer who only had their sentinel lymph node removed - the one closest to the cancer - survived just as long as women who had more extensive surgery to remove lymph nodes in the armpit.
Removing cancerous lymph nodes may not be necessary because the radiation and chemotherapy attacks cancers in the lymph nodes before they have time to spread, the team said.
They noted that removing lymph nodes from the armpit 'carries an indisputable and often unacceptable risk of complications,' including infection and chronic and painful swelling of the arm.
The findings were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The results confirm the approach is safe, and doctors can feel confident recommending it, said Dr Nora Jaskowiak, surgical director of the breast center at University of Chicago Medical Center.
'This is really a move toward less radical surgery' for breast cancer patients, Dr Giuliano added.
That move began several years ago when doctors stopped routinely removing entire breasts and surrounding tissue, except for women with more advanced disease.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK. Around 46,000 women develop the disease every year while 12,000 die from the condition. ( dailymail.co.uk )
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