Prognostic Significance of Axillary Lymph Node Micrometastases and Microvessel Count in Breast Cancer

OBJECTIVE To investigate the influence of axillary lymph node micrometastases and the microvessel count on the prognosis of patients with breast cancer.

METHODS Forty-eight patients with breast cancer, who had no tumor cells in their regional lymph nodes based on conventional histopathologic examination, were re-examined with immunohistochemical LSAB techniques. H&E, anti-EMA, CK 19 and FVIII factor staining was used to identify tumor cells in both lymph nodes and tumor tissues and to count the microvessels. A total of 882 lymph nodes were examined.

RESULTS Immunostaining-positive tumor cells were found in 9.0 % (79/882) of the dissected lymph nodes. The positive rates were not significantly different between a surviving group and a deceased group (P>0.05). The microvessel count was significantly higher in group that had died (P<0.001).

CONCLUSION The lymph node micrometastases did not show any correlation with patients survival, but the microvessel density had a negative correlation with the survival period in breast cancer patients who had negative axillary lymph nodes.