Ratio between positive lymph nodes and total dissected axillaries lymph nodes as an independent prognostic factor for disease-free survival in patients with breast cancer.

The number of positive axillary lymph nodes involved by tumor is one of the main prognostic factors for women with locoregional breast cancer (BC) for whom adjuvant chemotherapy is being considered. The prognostic importance of the ratio (P/D) between positive lymph nodes (P) and total dissected lymph nodes (D), previously demonstrated in the high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) setting has not yet been tested, however, in the conventional adjuvant chemotherapy setting. The data of 168 patients who were from 2 institutions and who were treated with adjuvant chemotherapy for BC were retrospectively analyzed, and univariate and multivariate analysis were performed, including the other traditional prognostic factors and P/D ratio as possible predictors of disease free survival (DFS).