Mast cells in the axillary nodes of breast cancer patients.

Mast cell counts on lymph nodes from 64 patients with infiltrating breast carcinoma showed that in the absence of metastases to any of the axillary nodes few mast cells were present. If metastases were present in any of these nodes, both those with and those without tumour showed higher mast cell counts. Thus it seems that it is the presence or absence of tumour in the axilla as a whole, rather than within the individual node, that is associated with the change in mast cell count.