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Case Reports
. 2008;3(6):423-425.
doi: 10.1159/000170185. Epub 2008 Nov 25.

Presence of Basement Membrane Material around the Tubules of Tubulolobular Carcinoma

Gábor Cserni  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Presence of Basement Membrane Material around the Tubules of Tubulolobular Carcinoma

Gábor Cserni. Breast Care (Basel). 2008.

Abstract
in English, German

BACKGROUND: Core needle biopsies represent only a small portion of a breast lesion. Rare lesions with overlapping features may be underestimated in such small samples. CASE REPORT: A 67-year-old female underwent core needle biopsy of a 27-mm breast tumour demonstrating infiltrative glands without significant desmoplasia. Periglandular collagen IV immunostaining and the small glands were reminiscent of microglandular adenosis, and despite the infiltrative look of the microglands, the lesion was interpreted as suspicious for malignancy. Finally, the tumour proved to be a tubulolobular carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: The tubules of tubulolobular carcinoma may show a basement membrane-like staining pattern with collagen IV, and this must be considered in the differential diagnosis of mammary lesions with small glandular architecture.

Einleitung:: Stanzbiopsien der Mamma enthalten stets nur kleine Anteile der bioptierten Läsion. Seltenere Läsionen mit überlappenden Anteilen können daher in solchen Proben unterbewertet werden.

Fallbericht:: Die Stanzbiopsie eines 27 mm großen Mammatumors einer 67-jährigen Patientin zeigte histologisch infiltrierende Drüsen ohne erkennbare Desmoplasie. Auf Grund eines immunhistologischen periglandulären Kollagen-IV-Nach-weises wurde der Tumor trotz des infiltrativen Wachstumsmusters der kleinen Drüsen lediglich als «verdächtig für Malignität» eingestuft. Am Operationspräparat wurde schließlich ein tubulolobuläres Karzinom diagnostiziert.

Schlussfolgerungen:: Die Tubuli des tubulolobulä-ren Karzinoms können basalmambranartige Kollagen-IV-Färbungen aufweisen. Dies sollte bei der Differentialdiagnose von Mammaläsionen mit mikroglandulärer Architektur berücksichtigt werden.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Small infiltrative glands devoid of myoepithelium (HE x100; inset: HE x400).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Small infiltrating glands surrounded by a somewhat discontinuous rim of collagen IV-positive layer suggestive of a basement membrane (arrowheads). In contrast to collagen IV, laminin (inset) did not show any staining around the glands (collagen IV x400; inset: laminin x400)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Similar case of tubulolobular carcinoma from another patient; small infiltrating glands in this area and periglandular collagen IV staining (inset) (HE x100; inset: collagen IV x400).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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