The Clinicopathologic Characteristics of Metaplastic Carcinomas of the Breast

Kim, Sung Won; Kang, Hee Joon; Youn, Yeo Kyu; Oh, Seung Keun; Choe, Kuk Jin; Noh, Dong Young

Abstract

PURPOSE: Metaplastic carcinomas of the breast (MpC) are rare disease with little information. The goal of this study is to describe the clinicopathologic characteristics of MpC and to compare the prognosis of MpC with that of infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC). METHODS: Twenty-three patients who underwent surgery due to MpC at Seoul National University Hospital between May 1982 and February 2000 were retrospectively analyzed on the basis of medical records and pathologic reports. RESULTS: All patients were females and the mean age was 47.3 years. The mean tumor size was 4.0 cm (range 1.0~11.0 cm). Twenty-one patients were treated with mastectomy and the remaining 2 patients were treated with lumpectomy. Four patients had metastatic disease at presentation. Lymph node metastases were detected in 6 of 21 (28.6%) patients who underwent axillary dissection. Two of 11 patients (18.2%) were positive for ER and one of 10 patients (10.0%) was positive for PgR. Follow-up was possible for thirteen patients. The overall 5 and 10-year survival rates were 66.7% and 35.6%, respectively. Additionally, the 5 and 10-year disease-free survival rates were 63.3% and 33.8%, respectively. When comparing against the control patients with IDC, the group with MpC tended to have a more unfavorable prognosis. However, this data was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Although MpC showed less frequent lymph node metastasis, the overall and disease-free survival rates of MpC patients was not better than IDC patients. Therefore patients with MpC require closer follow-up for disease recurrence.