Surgical treatment of carcinoma of the breast: IV. Prognosis according to extent of involvement of the axillary lymph nodes.

This is a retrospective study of 462 patients who had masectomy and axillary dissection for carcinoma of the breast during 1971-1980. Actuarial analysis of relapse rates up to 5 years showed that the extent of involvement of axillary lymph nodes was the most important prognostic factor. Among patients without any axillary metastasis, those with tumor smaller than 2 cm, colloid, or other less common carcinomas had significantly better prognosis than those with other lesions. Patients younger than 45 years old had higher relapse rate. Among patients with four or more positive axillary nodes, those with tumors smaller than 9 cm or those with nine or fewer positive nodes also had lower relapse rate than those with larger tumors or more positive nodes. Adjuvant systemic chemotherapy has improved the prognosis of patients with four or more positive nodes. Our findings are discussed and compared to those reported in the literature.