MANAGEMENT OF LYMPH-NODE METASTASES IN BREAST-CANCER AND GASTRIC-CANCER

The management of regional lymph node metastases in breast cancer and gastric cancer is reviewed. Regional lymph node metastasis is a critic al prognostic factor in these diseases, but there is an apparent discr epancy in the efficacy of regional lymph node dissection between them. A number of prospective randomized clinical trials have demonstrated that regional lymph node dissection improves the regional control of b reast cancer, but does nor improve the survival. On the other hand, on ly retrospective or prospective comparative studies have shown that ex tended lymph node dissection significantly improves the survival in ga stric cancer. Although the discrepancy in the regional lymph node diss ection between breast and gastric cancers has been explained by differ ences in their biological behaviors, caution must still be exercised i n drawing conclusions from these nonrandomized studies. (C) 1995 Wiley -Liss, Inc.