Host resistance in relation to survival in breast cancer.

The degree of lymphocytic infiltration in and around breast tumours together with sinus histiocytosis and follicular hyperplasia in regional lymph nodes has been studied in 310 cases of breast cancer treated with standard radical mastectomy. The presence of these features was regarded as evidence of host resistance against the tumour and made possible the division of patients into three classes-no or poor reaction, good reaction, and strong reaction. The grading was shown to have a close correlation with prognosis. The relationship between host defensive factor grading and malignancy, nodal metastases, and survival was also examined. The results support the hypothesis that prognosis in breast cancer is closely related to a histological picture of cell-mediated immunity against the tumour.