Abstract: Objective:To investigate the effect of axillary lymph node status on the prognosis of patients with recurrence after breast conserving surgery.Methods:From April 2012 to May 2015，476 patients with breast cancer who had recurred after breast conserving surgery were selected as the study subjects.According to the status of axillary lymph nodes during breast conserving surgery，152 cases were axillary lymph node positive group and 324 cases axillary lymph node negative group.The clinicopathological manifestations and survival of the two groups were observed and compared，and the prognostic factors after recurrence were analyzed.Results:There was no significant difference in local and regional recurrence between the two groups（P>0.05）.There were no significant differences in age，recurrence site，estrogen receptor（ER）and progesterone receptor（PR），human epidermal growth factor receptor 2（HER2），diseasefree interval，local and systemic treatment between the two groups（all P>0.05）.There was no significant difference in the nondistant metastasis survival rate between the two groups（P>0.05），but the total survival rate in the positive group was significantly lower than that in the negative group（P<0.05）.Cox proportional hazard model multivariate analysis showed that recurrence site was an independent factor for survival without distant metastasis after local recurrence of breast conserving surgery（OR=2.052，P=0.003）.Axillary lymph node status and recurrence site were independent factors for overall survival after local recurrence of breast conserving surgery（OR=3.468，P=0.003；OR=677，P<0.001）.Conclusion:Axillary lymph node status is an independent factor affecting the overall survival of patients with recurrence after breast conserving surgery，but it has little effect on the survival of patients without distant metastasis.

Key words: breast neoplasms, breast conserving surgery, axillary lymph nodes, local recurrence, regional recurrence, prognosis