negative” invasive breast carcinoma. Multiple additional levels of the lymph nodes were
examined with hematoxylin-eosin staining and keratin immunostaining. Occult nodal
metastases were detected in 50 (31%) patients; of these, 28 (17%) were detectable by
hematoxylin-eosin stain alone, while the other 22 (14%) consisted of mostly single cells or
very small clusters and required immunostaining for detection. The size of the metastatic …