RESUMEN
Thirty-eight patients with stages II-III breast cancer after mastectomy, two patients with other tumors, and six patients with lymphosarcoma were examined. For detecting cancer metastases to the bone marrow, morphological analysis of puncture biopsy specimens was carried out in all patients with breast cancer; in patients with other diseases, puncture biopsy specimens of the tumor or lymph node were examined. Immunodiagnosis was carried out by the immunocytochemical method with detection of tumor antigens--monoclonal antibodies to cytokeratins, to breast cancer (ICO-25 and ICO-103), and to hemopoietic cells. All patients with breast cancer were divided into two groups: 1) 9 patients with cancer metastases to the bone marrow, confirmed by x-ray, histological, and morphological methods and 2) 29 patients without documented metastases to the bone marrow. Immunocytochemical methods detect isolated tumor cells in patients with suspected metastases to the bone marrow, lymph nodes, and other organs in cases when these cells are undetectable by routine morphological and histological methods.