Apocrine carcinoma of the breast
Updates to Article Attributes
Apocrine carcinoma of the breast is a rare variant of breast cancer. The diagnosis is mainly pathological as its difficult to differentiate from other forms of breast cancer on imaging.
Epidemiology
It accounts for about 4% of all the cases. It is seen most often in females in the age group of 50-70 years.
Pathology
GrosslyGrossly it appears similar to other invasive breast carcinomas.
Microscopic appearance is of sheets, cords and at times tubules of neoplastic cells. The primary features seen is that of large amounts of eosinophilliceosinophilic, granular cytoplasm, tumor cells with well defined margins and large vesicular nuclei. The nucleus to cytoplasm ratio is about 1:2. They frequently reveal snouts which are accumulations of secreted granules in the apical cytoplasm, that is clearly revealed by staining dyes.
PrognosisTreatment and prognosis
The six year survival rate for moderate to high grade apocrine breast cancer is thought to be between 70% and 80%.
-<p><strong>Apocrine carcinoma of the breast </strong>is a rare variant of <a href="/articles/breast-neoplasms">breast cancer</a>. The diagnosis is mainly pathological as its difficult to differentiate from other forms of breast cancer on imaging.</p><h4>Epidemiology</h4><p>It accounts for about 4% of all the cases. It is seen most often in females in the age group of 50-70 years.</p><h4>Pathology</h4><p><strong>Grossly </strong>it appears similar to other invasive breast carcinomas.</p><p><strong>Microscopic appearance</strong> is of sheets, cords and at times tubules of neoplastic cells. The primary features seen is that of large amounts of eosinophillic, granular cytoplasm, tumor cells with well defined margins and large vesicular nuclei. The nucleus to cytoplasm ratio is about 1:2. They frequently reveal snouts which are accumulations of secreted granules in the apical cytoplasm, that is clearly revealed by staining dyes.</p><h4>Prognosis</h4><p>The six year survival rate for moderate to high grade apocrine breast cancer is thought to be between 70% and 80%.</p>- +<p><strong>Apocrine carcinoma of the breast </strong>is a rare variant of <a href="/articles/breast-neoplasms">breast cancer</a>. The diagnosis is mainly pathological as its difficult to differentiate from other forms of breast cancer on imaging.</p><h4>Epidemiology</h4><p>It accounts for about 4% of all the cases. It is seen most often in females in the age group of 50-70 years.</p><h4>Pathology</h4><p>Grossly<strong> </strong>it appears similar to other invasive breast carcinomas.</p><p>Microscopic appearance is of sheets, cords and at times tubules of neoplastic cells. The primary features seen is that of large amounts of eosinophilic, granular cytoplasm, tumor cells with well defined margins and large vesicular nuclei. The nucleus to cytoplasm ratio is about 1:2. They frequently reveal snouts which are accumulations of secreted granules in the apical cytoplasm, that is clearly revealed by staining dyes.</p><h4>Treatment and prognosis</h4><p>The six year survival rate for moderate to high grade apocrine breast cancer is thought to be between 70% and 80%.</p>