Papillary carcinoma of the breast represents approximately 0.5% of all newly diagnosed cases of breast cancer. The prevalence of both invasive and in situ papillary carcinoma seems to be greater older postmenopausal women, and -in relative terms-in males. Histologic features of the tumor include cellular proliferations surrounding fibrovascular cores, with or without invasion. In this review, characteristics of both in situ and invasive disease are outlined. Immunohistochemical analyses of papillary carcinoma suggest the utility of markers such as smooth muscle myosin heavy chain, calponin, p63 and high molecular weight keratins, which can characterize the myoepithelial cell layer. With respect to radiographic evaluation of papillary carcinoma, ultrasonography is the most extensively studied imaging modality, though magnetic resonance mammography has potential utility. Available data suggest improved outcome for papillary carcinoma as compared to invasive ductal carcinoma. Treatment-related information for patients with papillary carcinoma is limited, and patterns noted in available series suggest a variable approach to this disease. The scarcity of information underscores the need for further treatment- and outcome-related studies in papillary carcinoma of the breast.

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Polymeric microneedle (MN) arrays continue to receive growing attention due to their ability to bypass the skin's stratum corneum barrier in a minimally-invasive fashion and achieve enhanced transdermal drug delivery and "targeted" intradermal vaccine administration. In this research work, we fabricated biodegradable bilayer MN arrays containing nano - microparticles for targeted and sustained intradermal drug delivery. For this study, model drug (vitamin D, VD)-loaded PLGA nano- and microparticles (NMP) were prepared by a single emulsion solvent evaporation method with 72.8% encapsulation of VD. The prepared NMP were directly mixed 20% w/v poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) gel, with the mixture filled into laser engineered micromoulds by high-speed centrifugation (30min) to concentrate NMP into MN shafts. The particle size of PLGA NMP ranged from 300nm to 3.5μm and they retained their particle size after moulding of bilayer MN arrays. The relatively wide particle size distribution of PLGA NMP was shown to be important in producing a compact structure in bilayer conical, as well as pyramidal, MN, as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy. The drug release profile from PLGA NMP was tri-phasic, being sustained over 5days. The height of bilayer MN arrays was influenced by the weight ratio of NMP and 20% w/v PVP. Good mechanical and insertion profiles (into a skin simulant and excised neonatal porcine skin) were confirmed by texture analysis and optical coherence tomography, respectively. Ex vivo intradermal neonatal porcine skin penetration of VD NMP from bilayer MN was quantitatively analysed after cryostatic skin sectioning, with 74.2±9.18% of VD loading delivered intradermally. The two-stage novel processing strategy developed here provides a simple and easy method for localising particulate delivery systems into dissolving MN. Such systems may serve as promising means for controlled transdermal delivery and targeted intradermal administration.

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