BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: In the last few years special attention has been paid to the serum concentration of haemoglobin in @entity1 with @entity5 . It was the aim of this study to ascertain whether at the time of the initial diagnosis low haemoglobin levels in @entity1 with @entity0 denote a higher risk of primary haematogenous dissemination of @entity5 cells in bone marrow than that in those with higher levels. @entity1 AND METHODS: Between March 1994 and March 2000 bone marrow aspirates were performed and serum haemoglobin concentrations (g/dl) measured before primary surgical treatment in 360 consecutive @entity1 (mean age 57.5 years) with primary @entity0 . Evidence of @entity5 cells in bone marrow was obtained with the pancytokeratin antibody A45-B/B3. The cohort was divided into two groups on the basis of mean haemoglobin values, and the @entity1 underwent follow-up examination a mean of 30.7 months after the initial diagnosis. @entity1 with @entity3 at first diagnosis or those who had received nonsurgical treatment at that time were excluded. RESULTS: The mean pre-treatment haemoglobin concentration of the cohort was 13.8 g/dl (median 13.9 g/dl, S.D.1.2). There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of cytokeratin-positive bone marrow findings between the two groups. While disseminated @entity5 cells were demonstrated in the bone marrow of 48 (28%) @entity1 with a pre-treatment haemoglobin of </= 13.9 g/dl (p = 0.50), this was so in 58 @entity1 (31%) with a pre-treatment haemoglobin of > 13.9 g/dl. There was also no difference between the two groups regarding median survival time (67.9 vs. 65.8 months; p = 0.46). However, there was a significant difference in probability of survival between @entity1 with or without @entity5 cells in the bone-marrow (59.7 vs. 69.2 months; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: There is no evidence at present that the preoperative haemoglobin concentration is of prognostic value regarding the haematogenous dissemination of @entity5 cells and the survival time of @entity1 with primary @entity0 .

[The influence of the hemoglobin concentration on the @entity5 cell dissemination at the time of the initial diagnosis of XXXX ].

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['Patients', 'patients', 'PATIENTS'] @entity0 :: ('MESH:D001943', 'Disease') :: ['breast cancer'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['isolated tumour', 'cancer', 'tumour'] @entity3 :: ('MESH:D009362', 'Disease') :: ['metastases']
@entity0 :: (MESH:D001943,Disease) :: ['breast cancer']
