Axillary dissection in the surgical management of invasive breast cancer in postmenopausal female patients

: The breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide and the leading cause of cancer mortality of women over 55 years of age. It is associated with more favorable tumor biology in erderly women, as indicated by increased hormone sensitivity, lower grades of proliferative activity and attenuated HER-2/neu receptor overexpression. The progress of breast cancer is less aggressive in erderly women and the response to the adjuvant therapy is different too. According to the retrospective analysis the authors discussed the up-to-date role of axillary dissection in selected groups of postmenopauzal women with the early breast cancer (T1N0M0) and its impact on postoperative quality of everyday life.