Medullary breast carcinoma
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Medullary carcinoma of the breast | |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Oncology, pathology |
Medullary breast carcinoma is a rare type of breast cancer[1] that often can be treated successfully. It is relatively circumscribed.[2]
It involves infiltration by lymphocyte[3] (a type of white blood cell) in and around the tumor that can be seen when viewed under a microscope.[citation needed]
This is the only breast cancer associated with a loss of function mutation in BRCA1, and thus the only form associated with a hereditary mutation. It is typically triple-negative and exhibits upregulation of p53.[citation needed]
This is one of five types of epithelial breast cancer: ductal, lobular, medullary, colloid, and tubular.[citation needed]
DCIS is less commonly present, and medullary breast cancer tends to have a pushing, rather than infiltrative, border. The tumour presents as a soft, fleshy mass with a pushing border. Tumours commonly possess mutations of E-cadherin, which results in its overexpression. Strengthened adhesions between tumour cells reduce the frequency of metastasis.[citation needed]
![On histopathology, medullary breast carcinoma is characterized by groups of tumor cells with syncytial appearance (that is, seemingly fused cytoplasms, at left). There is typically also a lymphocytic and plasma cell infiltrate (right).[4]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Histopathology_of_medullary_breast_carcinoma.jpg/440px-Histopathology_of_medullary_breast_carcinoma.jpg)
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