Axillary dissection is presently a routine staging procedure in the management of breast cancer. The use of adjuvant systemic treatment is largely based on the diagnosis of axillary metastases. Routine axillary dissection leads to acute and chronic side-effects in a large proportion of patients. The sentinel node technique is presently explored with the aim of decreasing the need for standard axillary dissection. A complementary way forward is to analyse the primary breast cancer for molecular markers with prognostic significance with reference to the risk for metastatic capacity and thereby obtain a 'biological staging' and identify those patients in need of systemic adjuvant therapy. A large number of molecular biological factors have been shown to have prognostic significance in breast cancer e.g. c-erbB-2, p53, uPA, PAI-I and VEGF. This article reviews the expression of these and other factors in the primary breast cancers in relation to the risk for axillary and systemic metastatic disease, with the long-term aim of excluding routine axillary dissection.