Abstract

Breast cancer is the third most common malignant neoplasm in Korean women. The effect of postoperative adjuvant systemic therapy in the treatment of primary breast cancer with pathologic involvement of the axillary lymph nodes has been well established. But, 20 30% of node-negative breast cancer patients will develop recurrent disease and risk death within 10 years after initial local therapy without adjuvant treatment. Therfore, it is reasonable to identify those node-negative breast cancer patients at significant risk for recurrence and who could be treated with adjuvant therapies. A clinical study was perofrmed in 184 cases of primary node-negative breast cancers from January 198l to December 1991 to study the natural course of the diaease and to find-out the prognostic factors. The following results were obtained; l) During 73 monthe(9-143) of follow-up duration, 5-year and 10-year relapse free survival rates were 88%, 77% respectively, and overall survival rates were 89%, 88%, respectively. 10 year recurrence rate was 19%. 2) Median disease-free and survival durations were 80 month, 17 months, respectively, in tumor size<2 cm group and 68.5 months, 62 months respectively in tumor size 2-5 cm group. 3) Median disease-free and overall survival durations were 73 months, 61 months, respectively, in premenopause patients and 74 months, 73 months in postmenopause patients. 4) No differences were found in disease-free and survival duration based on types of operation. 5) With adjuvant treatment, there was a decreasing tendency of systemic relapse. In conclusion, continuous relapse was found in node-negative breast cancer even after 5 years of operation. Even if decreasing tendency of systemic relapse was induced with adjuvant treatment, no clinically useful prognostic factors were found from surgical and pathologic factors until now. Further study of biological factors in node-negative breast cancer is warrented.

• Keywords: Node, Breast cancer, Prognostic factors