Carcinoma of the breast: interrelationships among histopathologic features, estrogen receptor activity, and age of the patient.

Of 398 cases of breast cancer, 350 included data for all of the following: patient age, tumor size, histologic type, presence or absence of lymph node metastasis, nuclear grade of the cancer cells, extent of lymphocytic infiltration around these cells, and estrogen receptor status of the neoplastic tissue. This series is representative of and comparable with those reported in other studies of breast carcinoma. Initial evaluation suggested a relationship of cytologic differentiation and lymphocytic infiltration to estrogen receptor activity. More extensive statistical analyses, however, demonstrated that three factor interrelationships best explain the data concerning nuclear grade, lymphocytic infiltration, and estrogen receptor activity of the tumors in this study. Thus, the results of this investigation serve to warn against inferential judgments based on limited data or restricted evaluation. In addition, the analyses call attention to a significant association between age and lymphocytic infiltration around the tumor cells.