J Korean Med Sci.  2010 Mar;25(3):361-368. 10.3346/jkms.2010.25.3.361.

Clinicopathological Characteristics of Mucinous Carcinoma of the Breast in Korea: Comparison with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma-Not Otherwise Specified

• Park S
• Koo J
• Kim JH
• Yang WI
• Park BW
• Lee KS

• KMID: 1778029
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2010.25.3.361

Abstract

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors of mucinous carcinoma (MC) were compared with invasive ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified (IDC-NOS). Clinicopathological characteristics and survivals of 104 MC patients were retrospectively reviewed and compared with those of 3,936 IDC-NOS. The median age at diagnosis was 45 yr in MC and 47 yr in IDC-NOS, respectively. The sensitivity of mammography and sonography for pure MC were 76.5% and 94.7%, respectively. MC showed favorable characteristics including less involvement of lymph node, lower stage, more expression of estrogen receptors, less HER-2 overexpression and differentiated grade, and better 10-yr disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) (86.1% and 86.3%, respectively) than IDC-NOS (74.7% and 74.9%, respectively). Ten-year DFS of pure and mixed type was 90.2% and 68.8%, respectively. Nodal status and stage were statistically significant factors for survival. MC in Koreans showed similar features to Western populations except for a younger age of onset than in IDC-NOS. Since only pure MC showed better prognosis than IDC-NOS, it is important to differentiate mixed MC from pure MC. Middle-aged Korean women presenting breast symptoms should be examined carefully and evaluated with an appropriate diagnostic work-up because some patients present radiologically benign-like lesions.

Keyword

Korea; Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous; Breast; Prognosis

MeSH Terms

Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous/diagnosis/genetics/*pathology
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Breast/pathology
Breast Neoplasms/classification/diagnosis/genetics/*pathology
Carcinoma, Ductal/diagnosis/genetics/*pathology
Disease-Free Survival
Female
Genes, erbB-2
Humans
Korea
Lymphatic Metastasis
Mammography
Middle Aged
Prognosis
Retrospective Studies
Sensitivity and Specificity
Survival Rate
Young Adult

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Survival curves in all patients. (A) Disease-free survival curve according to histologic type. (B) Overall survival curves according to histologic type. IDC-NOS, Invasive ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified.

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  Fig. 2 Survival curves of mucinous carcinoma patients available for histologic subtype. (A) Disease-free survival curve compared with IDC-NOS. (B) Overall survival curve compared with IDC-NOS. MC, Mucinous carcinoma; IDC-NOS, Invasive ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified.

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  Fig. 3 Stage-matched overall survival curves in all patients. (A) Stage I, (B) Stage II, (C) Stage III. IDC-NOS, Invasive ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified.

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  Fig. 4 Age-matched overall survival curves in all patients. (A) Age of 50 yr or younger, (B) Age over 50 yr. IDC-NOS, Invasive ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified.

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