title: Fatty changes and metastases in axillary lymph nodes.
abstract: A variety of pathological changes with clinical and prognostic significance is described in axillary lymph nodes removed at mastectomy. We studied 572 lymph nodes removed from 43 women and 1 man during a radical or modified radical mastectomy performed for carcinoma of the breast. We found that in about one-third of the specimens some degree of fat infiltration, or changes, was present; metastases were found in either fatty or nonfatty lymph nodes. We conclude that the presence of fat in axillary lymph nodes does not influence implantation of tumor cells from a primary carcinoma of the breast and has to be reported as an anatomic variant.
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001365:Axilla; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008408:Mastectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis