Objective To evaluate the prognostic value of three different staging system based on positive lymph nodes,lymph node ratio and log odds of positive lymph nodes in breast carcinoma.Methods In 472 breast carcinoma patients,survival analysis was performed with Kaplan-Merier and COX regression model,the hazard ratio (HR) of the three staging system were compared.Results When more than 10 lymph nodes were dissected in the operation,there was statistical differences in survival among the staging systems based on lymph node ratio and log odds of positive lymph nodes (P ＜ 0.05),while the prognosis was highly homologous between the staging systems based on positive lymph nodes in stage N0 and N1.Univariate analysis showed age,tumor size,Her2 status,estrogen receptor status and the total lymph nodes dissected were related to overall survival (all P ＜ 0.05).COX multivariate analysis showed that the staging system based on lymph node ratio (5.495) and log odds of positive lymph nodes (4.662) had the higher HR than the N staging system (2.722).Conclusions Compared with the number of involved lymph nodes,the staging system based on lymph node ratio and log odds of positive lymph nodes were superior to the staging system based on positive lymph nodes for prognostic assessment of breast carcinoma.