title: Histopathological characterization of ulcerated breast cancer and comparison to their non-ulcerated counterparts.
abstract: Approximately 6-15 % of breast cancer patients are diagnosed with primary ulcerated breast cancer (ULBC). ULBC is known to be associated with short recurrence free and poor overall survival. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to characterize ULBC and compare the histopathological findings with those of non-ulcerative breast cancer (NULBC). A total of 152 ULBCs were evaluated and compared to 304 consecutive non-ulcerated, age-matched breast malignancies. Patients mean age was 65 years (SD = 13.0 ULBC, SD = 14.0 NULBC). ULBC was associated with a higher rate of poorly differentiated tumors (p = < 0.001), as well as larger tumor sizes (p = < 0.001). As expected, the rate of axillary lymph node involvement was higher in ULBC patients (p = <0.001). In addition to that, ULBC was associated with a higher rate of triple negative breast cancer (p = 0.002), and higher Ki67 expression (p = < 0.001). ULBC showed more aggressive histopathological features in comparison to NULBC which may contribute to the generally known poorer prognosis of women with ULBC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Senology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Medical University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Staudigl
authors.forename: Michaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bartova
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salama
authors.forename: Giorgi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dzagnidze
authors.forename: Zsuzsanna
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Bago-Horvath
authors.forename: Kamil
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pohlodek
authors.forename: Christian F
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Singer
authors.forename: Muy-Kheng M
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Tea
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D014456:Ulcer / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D019394:Ki-67 Antigen