title: Ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast: correlation between histopathological features and age of patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The histopathological subtype, nuclear grade and presence or absence of comedonecrosis are established as critical elements in the reporting of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast. The aims of this study were to determine the frequencies of morphological subtypes of DCIS, nuclear grade and comedonecrosis; to compare the age of patients with the histopathological characteristics of DCIS, and to assess the agreement of grade between in situ and invasive components in DCIS cases that were associated with invasive carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated a series of 403 cases of DCIS, pure or associated with invasive mammary carcinoma, consecutively identified from the histopathology files of the Breast Pathology Laboratory, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil, from 2003 to 2008.
  
  
  RESULTS
  DCIS displayed a single growth pattern in most cases (55.1%) and the solid subtype was the most common morphology (42.2% of the total). High-grade DCIS was identified in 293/403 cases (72.7%) and comedonecrosis was present in 222/403 cases (55%). Among DCIS with a single architectural pattern, high grade was more common in the solid subtype (151/168 cases, 89.9%; p < 0.001). Only 32% of tumours with a cribriform pattern had high nuclear grade. Comedonecrosis was more common in the solid morphology than in the cribriform, papillary and micropapillary subtypes (p < 0.001). Patients with high-grade DCIS were younger in relation to patients with low-grade DCIS (p = 0.027) and patients with tumours with comedonecrosis were also younger in comparison to patients with tumours without comedonecrosis (p = 0.003). Fair agreement was observed between in situ and invasive components with regard to grade (weighted kappa = 0.23).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high nuclear grade and the presence of comedonecrosis were identified more frequently in younger patients and more often correlated with the solid pattern of DCIS.
  The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/13000_2014_227.
authors.affiliation: Breast Pathology Laboratory, School of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil. amandaperez1408@yahoo.com.br.
authors.forename: Amanda Arantes
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.affiliation: Breast Pathology Laboratory, School of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil. debalabra@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Débora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Balabram
authors.affiliation: Breast Pathology Laboratory, School of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil. ma.salles@terra.com.br.
authors.forename: Marcio de Almeida
authors.initials: Mde A
authors.lastname: Salles
authors.affiliation: Breast Pathology Laboratory, School of Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Av. Prof. Alfredo Balena, 190, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil. hgobbi@medicina.ufmg.br.
authors.forename: Helenice
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gobbi
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000473:pathology*; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009336:Necrosis; D060787:Neoplasm Grading