Histological grading and prognosis of breast cancer

According to the standard histological grading (formation of glandular structures, differentiation and mitosis of the cancer cells), totally 826 cases of breast cancer were graded into three groups, including: grade I: 291 cases, 35.2%, grade II: 412 cases, 49.9%, and grade III: 123 cases, 14.9%. The 5-year and 10-year survival rates were as follows: grade I: 78.4%(228/291) and 56.5%(148/262); grade II: 51.2%(211/412) and 35.2%(125/355); and grade III: 44.7%(55/123) and 29.0%(31/107) respectively. Among 599 breast cancer cases, there were 293 accompanied with lymph nodes positive to cancer cells (48.9%). The relationships between patients with lymph nodes positive to cancer cells and the histological grading were: grade I 41.4%(92/222); grade II 48.8%(137/281) and grade III 66.7%(64/96) and all were significant statistically. In this studied group, cancer cell emboli were found in 287 cases (34.7%) including: grade I 20.6%; grade II 41.5% and grade III 45.6%. Those cancers with high cell differentiation gave a low incidence of cancer cell embolus.