[Evaluation of prognostic factors in breast cancer]

The survival of the patients with breast cancer depends on many factors. The TNM system, which is the most widely used prognostic system takes into account only the size, and the local extension of the tumor, and presence or not of axillary or supraclavicular lymph nodes. The axillary nodes involvement is the single precise prognostic variable. However, other valuable and important factors are to be considered. As a matter of fact, the growth rate of the tumors, their estrogen and progesterone receptor status, and their histopathological grade may reflect with a better accuracy the tumor biology, and should be integrated among the variables to study before the choice of an adjuvant treatment.