The value of axillary dissection in T1a breast cancer.
BACKGROUND
Some authors have stated the undesirability of axillary lymph node dissections for very small breast cancers, because so few of their patients have lymph node metastases (3% for T1a lesions in one series).


METHODS
Of 6,308 breast cancer cases reviewed from three large urban hospitals 3,077 single primary cases with both axillary dissection and accurate tumor measurements were statistically analyzed.


RESULTS
For T1a lesions we found axillary metastases to be four times higher (12%) than others have reported. For each tumor size there was a statistically significant difference in the percentage of axillary metastases. There was also a statistically significant difference in the breast cancer-specific survival of patients with different tumor sizes (n = 3,077) at the 3-year, 5-year, 7-year, and 10-year periods.


CONCLUSIONS
These results justify axillary node dissections even for very small invasive cancers of the breast, particularly for invasive ductal histology.
McGee
J M
JM
Department of Surgery, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Tulsa 74129, USA.
Youmans
R
R
Clingan
F
F
Malnar
K
K
Bellefeuille
C
C
Berry
B
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001365:Axilla; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015996:Survival Rate