Clinicopathological analysis on invasive micropapillary carcinoma of the breast: 16 cases

Objective To study the clinicopathological features of breast invasive micropapillary carcinoma and its treatment and prognosis. Methods Clinical data, radiological examination, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, therapeutic regimen and follow-up results of 16 cases of invasive micropapillary carcinoma of the breast were collected. The clinicopathological features, immunophenotype, imaging findings, treatment and prognosis were retrospectively analyzed. Results All the 16 cases were female, with mean age of 56.3 years (40 to 89 years) . Of the 16 patients, 4 cases were pure invasive micropapillary carcinoma, and 12 cases were mixed invasive micropapillary carcinoma. Among the 12 cases of mixed invasive micropapillary carcinoma, 1 case was mixed with invasive ductal carcinoma, mucinous carcinoma and invasive micropapillary carcinoma, and the remaining 11 cases were all non-specific invasive ductal carcinoma with invasive micropapillary carcinoma. Out of the 16 cases, 13 (81.25%) were invasive micropapillary carcinoma with axillary lymph node metastasis, axillary lymph node metastasis which was more than 4 had 7 cases (43.75%) , clinical stage Ⅲ had 8 cases (50%) . According to the pathological results, 16 cases were treated with individualized comprehensive treatment. Of the 16 patients, 14 were followed up and 2 were lost. Conclusion Breast infiltrating micropapillary carcinoma is a rare type of breast cancer, with high rate of axillary lymph nodes metastasis, aggressive lymphatic invasiveness, high malignancy degree and poor prognosis. Key words: Breast; Micropapillary carcinoma