[Tumor size and histological grading of stage 1 breast cancer. Prognostic and therapeutic significance].

Systemic adjuvant therapy can improve the prognosis for breast cancer patients. In node negative disease most patients have a good prognosis with local therapy only. Therefore, identification of subgroups with higher risk of relapse is warranted in order to avoid overtreatment of a large number of patients. A total of 399 tumours from patients without axillary metastases, operated on in the years 1964-72, were measured preoperatively and graded according to a modified Scharff-Bloom-Richardson scheme. Patients with T2 (UICC) tumours and histologic grade 2 and 3, had a 3.3-fold relative risk of mortality from breast cancer compared with the rest of the patients. These patients should receive adjuvant systemic therapy.