Survival and prognostic factors in node-negative breast cancer: results of long-term follow-up studies.

Seven hundred sixty-seven patients treated at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center from 1964 through 1970 by mastectomy and axillary dissection have now been followed for a median of 18 years. This unusual database consists of a consecutive series of women cared for by physicians specialized in the treatment of breast cancer in one institution. The data suggest that patients with T1, N0, M0 tumors of 1 cm or less may be "cured" by mastectomy and axillary dissection, the estimated proportion of "cured" patients being 89%. The data also suggest that node-negative patients can be placed in categories of risk for recurrence on the basis of primary tumor size.