Metaplastic breast cancer: a comparison between the most common histologies with poor immunohistochemistry factors

Abstract

BackgroundMetaplastic carcinoma of the breast (MCB) is a rare histological type of breast cancer. This study aimed to determine whether MCB exhibits shorter overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) compared with other histologies that are considered unfavorable.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed 157 clinical file records of the Mexico City-based National Institute of Cancerology and compared the clinical characteristics and treatment of 24 patients with MCB, 37 patients with triple-negative invasive lobular carcinoma (TN-ILC), 48 patients with high-grade invasive ductal carcinoma (HG-IDC), and 48 patients with triple-negative invasive ductal carcinoma (TN-IDC), paired by clinical stage and age. We performed a comparative analysis and analyzed OS and DFS using a log-rank test.ResultsIn patients with MCB, the 5-year DFS was 52.1% (mean, 48.52 months; 95%: 35.32-61.72), and the 5-year OS was 72.2% (mean, 59.77 months; 95% CI: 48.55-71.00). No differences were observed in the DFS of MCB compared with each of the other histologies (MCB vs. HG-IDC, p = 0.865; MCB vs. TN-IDC, p = 0.966, and MCB vs. TN-ILC, p = 0.132). Moreover, no differences were observed when comparing the OS of MCB with that of each of the other histologies (MCB vs. HG-IDC, p = 0.246; MCB vs. TN-IDC, p = 0.255, and MCB vs. TN-ILC, p = 0.387).ConclusionsNeither OS nor DFS differ between patients with MCB and those with other histologies with unfavorable immunohistochemical factors.

Metaplastic Carcinoma of the Breast Is More Aggressive Than Triple-negative Breast Cancer: A Study From a Single Institution and Review of Literature

“…There was inconsistency in data handling and analysis. While some authors performed matching (4,8–13,15), some did not match instead they compared with either all TNBC (14) or with BC regardless of tumor molecular subtype (5). There was also inconsistency in the chosen variables for matching, ranging from only one variable such as Nottingham grade (4), or stage (12), to a more comprehensive matching including age, stage, and therapy modality (11 and current study).…”

“…All studies included all MBC types except Lester et al who included only sarcomatoid carcinoma (11) and Nayak et al who included only SCC (17). Some studies did not record the histologic subtypes (10,15). While some studies (4,9,11,12) showed a significant survival difference, others (8,10,13,15) concluded that while MBC tumors have poor prognostic indicators at presentation, they behave similarly to matched controls.…”

“…In our experience the clinical outcome seems to be worse than TNBC. While some studies agree with this observation (4,9,11,12), other studies showed that there was no significant difference between these two subgroups (7,8,10,15). One of the issues in these previously published studies is how close the cases (MBC vs. TNBC) were matched.…”

“…Nevertheless, few studies have compared the two entities side by side and the existing literature may overlook the differences in these two groups, largely in part due to small numbers and the inclusion of the favorable subtypes (4,8–15). In our experience the clinical outcome seems to be worse than TNBC.…”

Carcinoma metaplásico de mama com diferenciação osteossarcomatosa: um relato de caso

“…Entretanto, a maioria dos pacientes com essa "doença" é diagnosticado já em estágio T2, ou ainda mais avançado. Isso poderia explicar a menor taxa de sobrevida 10 . Esses tumores geralmente são receptores hormonais negativos e não respondem ao tratamento clínico 11 .…”