Prognostic Significance of Axillary Nodal Status in Primary Breast Cancer in Relation to the Number of Resected Nodes

Abstract

The prognostic significance of the number of metastatic axillary lymph nodes in relation to the number of identified nodes among 1 622 patients with operable breast cancer was assessed. We present a Cox's analysis of the prognostic significance of nodal status in relation to loco-regional recurrence, axillary recurrence, distant metastasis and death due to breast cancer respectively. As expected, the relative risks were generally higher for patients with nodal involvement, particularly those with 4 or more positive nodes or with few examined nodes. However, among those with more than 4 positive nodes the risk of distant metastases and death due to breast cancer was about the same irrespective of the number of nodes examined.