- If there is cancer of the breast, you want to take out the breast and the lymphoid mass in the axilla.  If the axilla is damaged, patient will not be able to protract arm with any force.
- Levels of riboflavin carrier protein (RCP) have been shown to be significantly elevated in people with breast cancer.

- The axillary lymph nodes represent an early site of metastasis from primary breast malignancies and their surgical removal and subsequent examination provide important prognostic information as well as a basis for choice of adjuvant treatment.  Damage to axillary lymphatics during surgical clearance of axillary nodes or resulting from the radiotherapy to the axilla increases the likelihood of subsequent upper limb lymphoedema.

- In breast cancer surgery the axillary lymph nodes are cleared routeinly.  During the dissection for this procedure one must clearly identify the axillary vein, and the thoracodorsal (C6,7,8) and long thoracic (C5,6,7) nerves.  Injury to the thoracodorsal nerve  results in paralysis of latissimus dorsi.  Injury to the long thoracic nerve causes paralysis of serratus anterior resulting in weakened arm abduction.  On clinical examination the latter injury results in winging of the scapula.

Reference:
1. Anatomy at a Glance. Omar Faiz and David Moffat.  Blackwell Science. 2002.