Background & objective: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Lymph node involvement is the most important prognostic factor in this cancer. Since there is no consensus about the relationship between lymphocytic infiltration and breast cancer prognosis, this study was conducted to investigate the correlation between stromal lymphocytic reaction and lymph node involvement in grade 1 ductal carcinoma of breast in Isfahan during 2004.
Materials & methods: In this cross sectional study 182 formalin - fixed and paraffin-embedded breast cancer tissue specimens were evaluated. Samples were classified according to the number of lymph nodes and age. Finally, the correlation between these parameters and stromal lymphocytic infiltration was examined. T student, one-way analysis of variance and χ 2 were used for statistical analysis.
Results: There is a significant correlation between stromal lymphocytic infiltration and lymph node involvement (P=0.001), whereas there is no significant correlation between menopause and stromal lymphocytic infiltration (P=0.09).
Conclusion: The research results indicated that tumors with severe stromal lymphocytic reaction are associated with high possibility of lymph node involvement. More research is recommended.