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I think the nodes are more important for deciding about therapy. The vascular invasion just tells them that the cancer was ready to start spreading. But as there was nothing in the lymph nodes, it probably hasn't spread yet through the lymphatic system.
These days, most surgeons do a sentinel node biopsy. Before the surgery, a marker is injected into the tumor, to see where the lymphatic fluid goes. During surgery the first node (or nodes) where the marker showed up are removed and sent to pathology. That way the surgeon knows which lymph nodes could be affected. They don't need to remove all nodes, and if lymphatic fluids go to other nodes besides those in your armpit, they are more easily detected. I think this procedure has a 95% success rate, meaning that it finds 95% of all affected nodes.
Hope this helps.
Lien
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Diagnosed age 44, January 2004, 0.7 cm IDC & DCIS. Stage 1, grade 3, ER/PR pos. HER2 pos. clear margins, no nodes. SNB. 35 rads. On Zoladex and Armidex since Dec. 2004. Stopped Zoladex/Arimidex sept 2009 Still taking mistletoe shots (CAM therapy) Doing fine.
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