title: Sarcoma of the breast: an update on a rare entity.
abstract: Breast sarcoma is a rare condition. It consists of a heterogeneous group of non-epithelial tumours arising from the mesenchymal tissue of the breast. It has a distinctly different natural history, treatment response and prognosis as compared with carcinoma of the breast. A different diagnostic approach and treatment strategy have to be defined for this group of tumours. Due to its rarity, the current understanding on breast sarcoma is limited and is mostly based on small retrospective case series or case reports. Hence, the management generally follows the algorithms derived from randomised control trials of soft tissue sarcomas in the extremities and chest wall. Through this review, we discuss the results of major retrospective studies on breast sarcomas including data on epidemiology, aetiology, diagnostic approach, treatment strategies and outcomes of this challenging and potentially aggressive condition.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Sue Zann
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgical Oncology, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Kong Wee
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Ong
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Benita Kiat Tee
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Sathiyamoorthy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Selvarajan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
authors.forename: Puay Hoon
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: BREAST; MALIGNANT TUMOURS; SARCOMAS