Clinical evaluation versus pathological findings of axillary lymph node metastases in breast carcinoma

This work was designed to study the axillary lymph node status in 50 patients [with age ranged from 30 to 70 years with an average of 50.2 + 9.7 years] with breast carcinoma, compare the clinical assessment with the pathological findings and show the value of complete axillary dissection. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the commonest histopathological type [74%], while 8% of the specimens classed as invasive lobular carcinoma. The highest incidence of node metastases was observed in invasive ductal carcinoma 86.5% and invasive lobular carcinoma 75%. There were no significant differences in the average number of nodes removed in patients treated with radical mastectomy or modified radical mastectomy