Axillary lymph node metastasis and survival in breast cancer patients with concurrent cardio-cerebral-vascular disease.

Objectives: Dissemination of tumour cells occurring both spontaneously or caused by diagnostic biopsy procedures is the most serious complication of solid malignancies. In the present work we focus on local tumour spread and how this complication of cancer disease can be counteracted.

Design: From a cohort of 864 breast cancer patients we selected those who died of their primary cancer and those who died because of a simultaneously existing cardio-cerebral-vascular disease (CCVD) and were exposed to anticoagulants.