[Criteria for the "early diagnosis" of breast cancer]

Studies have indicated that the appearance of metastases in regional lymph nodes is not dependent on the tumor size. The probability that the tumor may be local is the greater the less its size. The term "early diagnosis" referred to prophylactic examinations in the up-to-date diagnostics remains to be unwarranted, without distinct boundaries, and the true tumor proliferation may be judged only after a histological assay of lymph nodes.