S. J. Cutler

The reproducibility of histopathologic classification of breast tumor tissue (nuclear grade) and of axillary lymph nodes (sinus histiocytosis) has been evaluated. In 2 independent readings, an experienced observer assigned 70% of tumor tissue slides and 70% of lymph node slides to the same classification. Two other pathologists agreed fairly well with the classification by the experienced observer. Nuclear grade and sinus histiocytosis were found to be related to patient survival on the basis of classification by each of the 3 pathologists.

Abstract Survival of 873 acute lymphocytic leukemia patients has been reviewed in relation to a number of patient and disease characteristics at first hospital admission. Study of survival by individual years of age at diagnosis led to the selection of five age intervals: 1-3, 4-10, 11-19, 20-49, and 50 years and over. For each sex the survival after age 10 was considerably poorer than for the younger ages. The best survival for any age-sex group was that for girls 4-10, who had a median survival time of 14.0 months compared with an overall median survival time of 7.8 months for patients of both sexes over 1 year of age. We attempted to determine whether a favorable distribution of other factors related to survival might work to the advantage of girls in the 4-10 year age group. However, in studying factors such as symptoms and hematological characteristics it was the pattern, rather than the exception, to find within most levels of a characteristic under study, that girls 4-10 had the best survival. It would be interesting and potentially valuable to see whether the findings in this study are confirmed in other series. If a specific age-sex group tends to maintain a superior survival pattern, additional exploration of prognostic factors may uncover important leads concerning the biology of the disease.