RESUMO
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the predictors of axillary nodal metastass in patients with breast cancer.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A retrospective study was performed using the clinicopathological data of breast cancer cases diagnosed and treated in our Hospital between Dec 2006 and Nov 2008. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of axillary node positivity.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total number of patients was 1133. 69.5% of them (787) had complete clinical and pathological data. The median age was 49 years old (range 20-85). The average number of lymph nodes removed was 14.6 per person. The average number of involved nodes was 3.5 per person. Increasing tumor size was associated with increased risk of lymph node metastases. Assessed by multivariate analysis, the tumor size, age, ER status, and pathological type were significantly associated with node metastasis.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Axillary nodal metastases are significantly affected by the tumor size, ER status, age, and pathological type in breast cancer patients.</p>