The expectations for node-negative cancer are usually 85 percent to 95 percent disease-free survival.

One screening study demonstrated that patients were more likely to be diagnosed with small tumors and node-negative disease than women in two nonrandomized control groups.

Prognostic discriminants for 8-year survival for node-negative invasive breast cancer patients.

However, recurrence and death also occur in patients with node-negative breast cancer (NNBC).

Tamoxifen is effective in high-risk node-positive disease but not in high-risk node-negative disease.

Thus, it seems likely that the source of Met in the axillary fluid in node-negative breast cancer patients is the tumor in the breast.

More importantly, its expression in histologically node-negative patients point to the need to search for node micrometastasis or involvement of the excision margins by tumor.

Another trial that included both node-positive and node-negative women also demonstrated the equivalence of 5 years and 10 years of therapy.

Doctors base this on a woman's prognosis and urge that she wait two years if she's node-negative and five years if she's node-positive.

MammaPrint: This test helps predict whether stage I or stage II breast cancer that is node-negative will spread to other parts of the body.

Prognostic role of a multigene reverse transcriptase-PCR assay in patients with node-negative breast cancer not receiving adjuvant systemic therapy.

To reduce the morbidity associated with prophylactic lymphadenectomy, dynamic sentinel node biopsy is being used in patients with stage T2 clinically node-negative penile cancer.

In men with node-negative tumors, adjuvant therapy is applied under the same considerations as in women with node-negative breast cancer.

However, recent work suggests that in cases of small, asymptomatic, node-negative SCLC's ("very limited stage"), surgical excision may improve survival when used prior to chemotherapy.

Study conclusion: The Recurrence Score has been validated as quantifying the likelihood of distant recurrence in tamoxifen-treated patients with node-negative, estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.

Oncotype DX was initially developed for women with early-stage invasive breast cancer with ER+ cancers whose lymph nodes do not contain tumor (node-negative).

Some additional tumor characteristics that may eventually prove helpful in the prognosis of node-negative disease include the tumor proliferative fraction (S-phase) and the level of HER2/neu expression.

Whelan T, MacKenzie R, Julian J, et al.: Randomized trial of breast irradiation schedules after lumpectomy for women with lymph node-negative breast cancer.

Thist test is intended for women with early-stage (Stage I or II), node-negative, estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) invasive breast cancer who will be treated with hormone therapy.

Regardless of how one chooses to characterize node-negative tumors, evidence from clinical trials suggests that various types of adjuvant therapies benefit certain subgroups of patients with these kinds of tumors.

That means that, statistically, if there are 10 of us who have had children after treatment for breast cancer, and we are all node-negative, then 1 or 2 of us will die within 10 years.

Ludwig MS, Goodman M, Miller DL, et al.: Postoperative survival and the number of lymph nodes sampled during resection of node-negative non-small cell lung cancer.

Whelan TJ, MacKenzie RG, Levine M, et al.: A randomized trial comparing two fractionation schedules for breast irradiation postlumpectomy in node-negative breast cancer.

Perdonà S, Autorino R, De Sio M, et al.: Dynamic sentinel node biopsy in clinically node-negative penile cancer versus radical inguinal lymphadenectomy: a comparative study.

The experts concluded that "it is now apparent that all patients with node-negative breast cancer should have an oncologic consultation at the time of diagnosis" to discuss the risks and benefits of the various treatment options.