Tubular carcinoma of the breast and associated intra-epithelial lesions: a comparative study with invasive low-grade ductal carcinomas.
Ductal intra-epithelial lesions of the breast are associated with invasive neoplasms and comprise a large spectrum of histological patterns. We have examined 23 cases of pure tubular carcinomas (TCs) of the breast and 53 cases of invasive ductal low-grade carcinomas to determine the relationship and distribution of intra-epithelial lesions, mainly of ductal in situ carcinoma type, but including also lobular intra-epithelial neoplasia (LIN) in both entities. Eleven cases of TC showed flat epithelial atypia (FEA) (47.8%), and, in 14 and 6 cases, micropapillary and cribriform low-grade ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) were present (60.7 and 26.1%, respectively). On the opposite, in ductal grade I invasive carcinomas, the most frequent architectural pattern was low-grade DCIS growing in arcades in 26 cases (49%). While absent in TCs, low-grade DCIS of solid type was found in five (9.4%) cases of ductal invasive carcinomas, where FEA were present in seven (13.2%) cases. LIN lesions were present in four (17.4%) cases of TC, whereas they represented 7.5%, as reported by Carstens et al. (Am J Clin Pathol 58:231-238, 1972), of cases of low-grade carcinomas. These results suggest that invasive pure TC and low-grade ductal carcinomas of the breast are different lesions, and support the fact that TC, of low histopathological grade, is a particular distinct tumoural entity.
Fernández-Aguilar
Sergio
S
Department of Senology and Gynecopathology, Erasmus University Hospital, 808 Route de Lennik, 1070, Brussels, Belgium. sergiofa75@yahoo.com
Simon
Philippe
P
Buxant
Frédéric
F
Simonart
Thierry
T
Noël
Jean-Christophe
JC
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000145:classification / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged