PROGNOSTIC-SIGNIFICANCE OF AXILLARY NODAL STATUS IN PRIMARY BREAST-CANCER IN RELATION TO THE NUMBER OF RESECTED NODES

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.