[Adjuvant treatments of early breast cancer without lymph node involvement]

Lymph node status remains the most important prognostic factor in breast cancer. However, only 70% of the node negative breast cancer patients are alive at 10 years. Several randomized trials have shown that systemic adjuvant therapy, either chemo or hormonotherapy, increases survival in these patients. A recent meta-analysis confirms these findings. In 1992, a consensus conference recommended no therapy in low risk patients (tumor size less than 1 cm), tamoxifen in good risk patients (tumor less than 2 cm, oestrogen or progesterone receptors positive, well differentiated) and chemotherapy in premenopausal or hormonotherapy in postmenopausal high risk patients (receptor-negative less than 1 cm tumor or high pathological grade).