126 Predictors of lymph nodes metastasis in 209 patients with early invasive breast cancer: one year experience of a single cancer center

Objectives The aim of this study was to identify predictive factors of axillary lymph node metastasis (ALNM) in early breast cancer (EBC). Methods It was a retrospective study of 209 patients with T0-T1-T2 breast cancer who underwent resection of the primary tumor and axillary staging by sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and/or axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) over 2012 at our institute.The χ2 test and Fisher’s exact probability tests were used for categorical variables,and t-test for continuous variables.Predictors of ALNM were identified by univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses using SPSS statistical software package (version 20.0). Results Among the 209 patients, 48.8% (102 cases) had ALNM.Factors associated with ALNM in univariate analyses were tumor clinical size (23.5% in stage T0,41.9% in stage T1,55.4% in stage T2; p=0.02),multifocality (73.7% vs 43.3%,p=0.001),lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (77.1% vs 43.1%,p Conclusions Our results suggest that LVI, tumor size and the rate of positive ER are predictive factors for ALNM in EBC.