J Breast Cancer.  2009 Dec;12(4):338-343. 10.4048/jbc.2009.12.4.338.

Experience with Intracystic Papillary Carcinoma of the Breast at a Single Institute in Korea

• Lee SK
• Choi JH
• Lim HI
• Kim WW
• Kim S
• Cho EY
• Choe JH
• Kim JH
• Kim JS
• Nam SJ
• Yang JH
• Lee JE

• KMID: 2175539
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4048/jbc.2009.12.4.338

Abstract

Intracystic papillary carcinoma (IPC) of the breast is a rare entity, which can be associated with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or an invasive carcinoma. There have been only limited reports describing IPC in Korea and the incidence among breast cancer cases in Korea has not yet been reported. From a database of 7,109 breast cancer cases treated surgically at Samsung Medical Center, we could only identify four IPC cases (0.056%). We also found that there are some differences between the clinicopathological characteristics of our cases and the alleged characteristics of IPC as reported from Western countries, such as a relatively young age of onset, small tumor size and various expression levels of hormonal receptors. We suspect this very low incidence may be caused by a true rarity of IPC in women in Korea or may be due to a lack of clinical interest for IPC. Upon presentation of our experience with IPC, we suggest the diagnosis for this rare disease entity needs to be reappraised.

Keyword

Breast neoplasms; Ductal carcinoma in situ; Immunohistochemistry; Papillary carcinoma

MeSH Terms

Age of Onset
Breast
Breast Neoplasms
Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating
Carcinoma, Papillary
Female
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Incidence
Korea
Rare Diseases

Figure

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  Figure 1 Mammography and Ultrasonography demonstrates a dense tumor with smooth and Iobulated contours which is the typical radiologic findings of intracystic papillary carcinoma.

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  Figure 2 (A) Photomicrograph of tumor reveals an intracystic papillary carcinoma with thick fibrous capsule (H&E, ×10). (B) Immnohistochemistry for myoepithelial cells (p63) is negative at the periphery as well as at the cores of the papillae (×200) (black arrow: the core of the papillae, blue arrow: the periphery of the tumor).

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