To investigate the metastasis and the prognosis of the axillary lymph nodes in triple-negative and invasive ductal breast cancer patients of different ages.

321 female breast cancer patients diagnosed as triple-negative and invasive ductal carcinoma from Jan. 1, 2008 to Dec. 31, 2017 were selected as the samples, all of whom were treated with regular surgical treatment and postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and were divided into three groups according to their ages, including the younger group (<40 years old) , the middle age group (40 to 60 years old) , and the elder group (≥60 years) . We compared the metastasis of axillary lymph node, the disease-free survival rate after 1 to 5 years of the operations and the prognostic factors of the three groups.

Among the 321 patients, there were 94 young patients, 151 middle-aged patients and 76 elder patients. Among the three groups, the rate of axillary lymph nodes metastasis was the lowest in the elderly group (11.8%) , the highest in the middle-aged group (17.2%) and middle in the young group (13.8%) . The patients were followed up for 1 to 5 years. The recurrence rate of the young, middle-aged and elder groups was 56.4%, 53.6% and 17.1% respectively. There was a significant difference between the three groups (P<0.05) .

①he frequency of LN transfer in patients of TNBC is lower in the younger and the elder patients than in the middle-aged patients. ② The younger patients of TNBC have a higher recurrence rate and poor prognosis, while the elder patients of TNBC have the lowest recurrence rate and good prognosis. ③The prognosis of TNBC may be related to metabolism, which, of course, needs to be further verified with the proof of blood and cell test. ④The younger patients of TNBC are more likely to suffer blood metastasis, and adjuvant systemic therapy in early period may be more beneficial than local radiotherapy and early axillary dissection.

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC); Axillary lymph node; Hematogenous dissemination