Most of the data below is from older studies about women who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy, for more current statistics for women who receive adjuvant (protective) chemotherapy go here, here  or here
breast_nodes_fdsite.gif (10484 bytes)
10 Year Survival after Radical Mastectomy by Node Status
Devita 1993:1275
   Nodes Negative (Uninvolved) 65 - 80%
   Nodes Positive (Involved) 25 - 48%
   1 to 3 nodes involved 38 - 63%
   4 or more nodes involved 13 - 27%

20 Year Survival by Number of Nodes Involved
Tumor Size: 1cm 1 - 2 cm > 2cm
    nodes  = 0 79% 79% 64%
    nodes = 1 95% 78% 59%
    nodes =  2 - 3 73% 73% 53%
    nodes =  4- 9 - 39% 39%
    nodes =  10 + - 34% 34%

J Clin Onc 1996;14:3105

15 year survival with no chemotherapy based on nodes positive
by H&E (normal stain technique) or IHC (immunohistologic stain for keratin)

Outcome H&E(-) IHC(-) H&E(-) IHC(+) H&E(+) IHC(+)
15y DFS 81% 66% 50%
15y breast cancer mortality 16% 24.6% 45.3%

1 ASCO 2002 (#146) showing that nodes positive only with special stains (occult micrometastases) result in a worse outcome
see sentinel node page

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