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Background: The phyllodes tumor of the breast is a rare neoplasm that represent less than 1% of all breast tumors and between 2.5% of fibroepithelial tumors. The aim of this study was to describe clinical pathological characteristics and identify prognostics factors in terms of local recurrence free survival (LRFS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with phyllodes tumors of the breast. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 157 patients diagnosed and treated at the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplasicas between January 2005 to December 2010. In order to evaluate the relationship between clinical features and histology of the tumors, the Pearson X2 test was used. Kaplan-Meier method was used to identify prognostic factors in terms of LRFS, DMFS and OS. Results: The median age was 42 years (range: 13-81 years), 98 cases ≤ 45 years (62.4%) and 59 cases > 45 years (37.6%). In the univariate analysis, histological subtype (p=0.006) and pleomorphism (p<0.001) were identified as prognostic factors of LRFS, while the surgical approach (p=0.008), histological type (p<0.001) and some histological features such as stromal cellularity (P<0.001), pleomorphism (p<0.001), heterologous elements (p<0.001) and tumor necrosis (p=0.004) were identified as prognostic factors for DMFS. In regard to the OS, we found as prognosis factors, histology (p= 0.044), pleomorphism (p<0.001) and tumor necrosis (p=0.001). Conclusions: In our institution we have a low frequency (2.3%) of phyllodes tumors of the breast and the majority of our patients had benign tumors and good prognosis. We found that histological type and degree of pleomorphism are prognostic factors related to LRFS and OS. Surgical approach, histological type and some histological characteristics were predictors for DMFS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]