Breast cancer metastasis and lymph node lymphocyte-macrophage interaction.

A lymphocyte-macrophage interaction, known as the lymphocyte clustering phenomenon, was studied in axillary lymph node preparations from 27 breast cancer patients. The study was carried out in primary tissue cultures of lymph nodes and the lymphocyte-macrophage interactions were quantitated with respect to cancer positive and cancer negative axilla. The results indicate that there is a significantly higher (p less than 0.025) lymphocyte-macrophage interaction in negative node preparations from negative axilla of infiltrating ductal carcinoma patients. This new approach to lymph node lymphocyte evaluation may provide assistance in determining the extent of the disease process.