Prognostic factors on 45 cases of phyllodes tumors

The authors, in order to obtain a diagnostic index for phyllodes tumors and identified histological parameters that will predict the clinical course o f this neoplasm, developed a histological degree of aggressiveness based on specific histological parameters, including: stromal:gland ratio, tumor ma rgins, mitotic index and degree of stromal pleomorphism. Three categories w ere established: benign, intermediate and malignant. The probability of rec urrence was estimated by the relative risk and by a multivariate Cox analys is. A strong and significant association was observed between this histolog ical index and recurrence. The relative risk was 6.0 for intermediate lesio ns and 11.4 for malignant lesions when compared with the benign category. T he microscopic examination of all axillary lymph nodes was negative for met astatic disease. In the multivariate analysis, the stroma:gland ratio was t he strongest predictor for recurrence. These results indicate that by assig ning a numerical value to certain histopathologic variables a better correl ation with the clinical outcome of the patient can be obtained.