[Breast cancer: the significance of parasternal node dissection, with reference to the lymph flow of the breast].
The clinical significance of dissection of the parasternal lymph nodes (Ps) as a means for treating breast cancer has been re-evaluated through a lymph-flow study, which involved 58 cases of breast cancer patients and the use of CH 44. Initially, 1 ml of CH 44 was injected about the breast tumor immediately prior to the mastectomy. Later, the percentage of metastasis in the dissected lymph nodes, stained black by the CH 44, was studied. It was found that the originating site of the cancer had no impact on the parasternal nodes that stained black (inner and central, 76.7%; outer, 53.6%). Even in patients with an outer site tumor, cases with a metastasis to the axillary lymph nodes (Ax) showed a Ps staining as high as 75%. Thus, through not only a prognostic study but also through this lymph flow study, it has been clarified that for breast cancer, both the Ps and Ax are located at the same level as the primary lymph nodes.