Columnar cell-like changes in the male breast

Abstract

In the male breast, there is an entity sharing morphological features and immunohistochemical profile of columnar cell lesions.

Do columnar cell lesions exist in the male breast?

“…This might indicate that these clonally negative ducts are of importance in carcinogenesis. These putative precursors seem to be in line with the ‘columnar cell‐like changes’ reported recently by Ni et al . in the male breast.…”

“…This might indicate that these clonally negative ducts are of importance in carcinogenesis. These putative precursors seem to be in line with the 'columnar cell-like changes' reported recently by Ni et al 37 in the male breast. In 39 cases within 71 resections (with only six invasive carcinomas), they found distended ducts with a round or undulated outline, and an inner layer of columnar luminal cells that were also CK5/ 6-negative.…”

“…One recent paper reported on columnar cell‐like changes in the breast in 71 resections (including 47 gynaecomastia cases and six invasive carcinomas). They concluded that there is an entity sharing morphological features and the immunohistochemical profile of CCL . Male breast tissue is rarely submitted for examination, other than resections for gynaecomastia and breast cancer, so we therefore scrutinized male breast tissue in such resections for CCLs to determine whether or not they may play a role in male breast carcinogenesis.…”

Histopathological Review of Male Breast Cancer Cases

“…They noted columnar cell like changes in 39 patients. The incidence of CCL was similar in malignant and benign lesions [11]. Another recent study found no CCL around invasive cancer, gynaecomastia and normal breast tissue [12].…”

Elucidating encounters of atypical ductal hyperplasia arising in gynaecomastia

“…Of interest as a potential interpretative pitfall, in some cases we found the presence of columnar cell‐like changes, as described by Ni et al ., to also be CK5/6‐negative and diffusely ER‐positive. Although the debate as to whether columnar cell lesions truly exist in the male breast is ongoing, our experience shows that there are ductal changes that occur in the male breast that at least mimic the cytological and immunohistochemical features of columnar cell lesions in females . Their mention here is to indicate the possibility of misinterpreting them as ADH or DCIS by placing too much emphasis on the immunohistochemical staining pattern.…”