ARE POSITIVE AXILLARY NODES IN BREAST-CANCER MARKERS FOR INCURABLE DISEASE

Objective This study was designed to determine if resection of positiv e regional nodes in patients with breast cancer provided a group of cu red patients. Summary Background Data Previous studies of long-term fo llow-up of patients with breast cancer have demonstrated that 30% of p atients with positive nodes may be alive at 1 0 or 20 years. Randomize d, prospective studies have not shown a difference in survival between modified radical and total mastectomy. Methods The authors analyzed t he statistical basis of randomized, prospective studies of breast canc er. Patients from University and Kings County Hospital with breast can cer were observed (n = 1024) and the 10-year survival curves were anal yzed. Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program were evaluated to determine the prognosis of patients with po sitive-node breast cancer who survived 10 and 15 years. Results The au thors found that no current randomized study of primary treatment of b reast cancer has the power to determine the advantage of one treatment over another if the primary cancer is treated. Additionally, evaluati on of the patients in this study demonstrated that those with regional disease usually had a recurrence by 7 years; however, at 1 0 years, 3 0% are still alive and have the same prognosis as patients with negati ve-node breast cancer. Conclusions Regional breast cancer is a curable disease in some resected patients.