Factors affecting survival following radical mastectomy

Data on 17 potentially useful factors from 152 women undergoing radical mastectomy for operable breast cancer were analyzed in order to determine the effect of each on survival and their relative importance. Only four, clinical stage, clinical and pathological lymph node involvement, and appearance of recurrence and metastases, proved to be of significant prognostic value. Axillary nodal involvement was the main single determinant of survival. Multiple regression analysis, based on factor analysis of the original input variables, was able to account for 34% of the variance in survival and is thus of only very limited use as a predictive instrument in the clinical management of prospective patients.