Affiliations: [a] Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA, USA | [b] Department of Pathology, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA, USA | [c] Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Andrew M. Romano, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Virginia Health System, 1300 Jefferson Park Avenue - PO Box 800716, Charlottesville, VA, 22908-0716, USA. Tel.: +1 434 982 6517; Fax: +1 434 243 6086; E-mail: amr2h@hscmail;mcc.virginia.edu
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Tubular carcinoma (TC) of the breast is an uncommon, well-differentiated subtype of breast cancer with an excellent prognosis, but
ambiguity in how it should be defined and treated. OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinicopathologic characteristics and survival outcomes of patients with TC. METHODS: The University of Virginia (UVA) Breast Cancer Database and the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) databases were
queried for patients with either grade 1 TC or grade 1 ductal (G1D) breast cancer. RESULTS: Nineteen institutional TC cases were identified and compared to 54 G1D cases. Flat epithelial atypia frequently was found with TC and not with G1D.
There was no difference in overall or progression free survival. In SEER 18, 9,565 cases of TC were found. Most cases were stage I and patient characteristics
were nearly identical. Both cause specific survival and overall survival were significantly longer for TC when compared to G1D. CONCLUSIONS: This review shows TC to have favorable behavior, with similar features to, but superior survival compared to low-grade ductal carcinoma of the
breast. This suggests the adequacy of histopathologic review
while reinforcing the designation of TC as a unique subtype.
