five-year survival rates for stage I and stage II cancer are between 75% and 85%
So I think it's pretty safe to say that persons Niece may very well still be alive had she taken mainstream cancer treatments for breast cancer
EDIT: also, that study you linked to regarding lymph nodes has nothing to do with cancerous lymph nodes. They're talking about removing lymph nodes that are near the Breast Cancer but are not they themselves cancerous
The OP may very well have cancerous lymph nodes in which case they should probably have them removed, in my opinion