Tumor cells in venous blood draining mammary carcinomas.
Tumor cells were identified in mammary vein blood in ten of 38 (26.6%) patients during total mastectomy with axillary dissection performed as the primary therapy for breast carcinoma (pathological stages I and II). This finding was analyzed with respect to 35 histological characteristics of the primary tumors. The presence of blood-borne tumor cells was inversely related to perineural space invasion, whereas there was no apparent relationship with the remaining 34 characteristics. The significance of blood-borne tumor cells remains unknown.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001940:Breast / Q000098:blood supply; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008408:Mastectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D014680:Veins