[Prognostic significance of reactive changes in regional lymph nodes in stomach and breast carcinoma]

The regional lymph nodes have been examined in 80 cases of carcinoma of the stomach and in 70 cases of cancer of the breast, and their reactive type has been determined and correlated with the duration of survival of the patients. A prognostically favorable sign in both groups appeared to be the finding of a predominance of lymphocytes combined with a sinus histiocytosis, in the case of cancer of the stomach, then also a reaction of the type of prevalence of germinae centers together with sinus histiocytosis. Prognostically unfavorable was apparently the finding of a depletion of lymphocytes, especially if sinus histiocytosis was also lacking. The isolated finding of a single lymph node metastasis, in itself, if we do not take into account the reactive type, could not be interpreted in the sense of a worse prognosis from the viewpoint of survival time.