Abstract
The regional lymph nodes of the breast are classified into class I and class II (according to Japanese Breast Cancer Society), and we studied the development pattern of lymph node metastasis in breast cancer and which is the prominent contributor for prognosis, the localization or number of metastatic lesions. Subjects were 1, 340 patients operated on for breast cancer at the hospital from 1975 to 1987. Of 1, 340 patients, 435 patients had metastasis only in the class I lymph nodes (group 1). 7 patients in the class II lymph nodes (group 2), and 124 patients in both the class I and II lymph nodes (group 3).
A relation that metastatic node in class II increased in proportion as metastatic node increased in class I was observed. The 10-year survival rates of group 1, 2 and 3 were compared in the specific subgroup for the number of metastatic nodes (1_??_n_??_3, 4_??_n_??_9, 10_??_n). There was no significant difference in three subgroups. In Cox's multivariate analysis, the number of metastatic node was more significant prognostic factor than the localization of metastatic node.
From the above results, we conclude that lymph node metastasis develops from class I to class II in principle, and the difference in the localization of metastatic node was not related to the survival but number of metastatic nodes.
