Tubular carcinoma of the breast: institutional and SEER database analysis supporting a unique classification

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.

Keywords: SEER; Tubular; breast; carcinoma; survival.