Metaplastic breast carcinoma: a clinical analysis of 26 cases

Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) is a rare and aggressive neoplasm. Morphologically, it is characterized by the presence of multiple cellular differentiation and heterologous elements (squamous cells, spindle cells, cartilage or bone, etc). The clinical significance, prognostic risk factors and optimal treatment modalities of MBC are limited. This study collected clinical and pathological data of 26 MBC cases in the First Affiliated Hospital of Bengbu Medical College from July 2002 to July 2012 and investigated the clinicopathological features and the prognosis data. All patients were females aged 34-76 years old. Median tumor size was 3.5 cm and 88.5% patients were triple-negative for estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2). MBC is associated with a poor prognosis compared with conventional invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). In our study, 5-year Overall Survival (OS) rate and 5-year Disease-Free Survival (DFS) rate were 61.5% and 53.8% respectively. Most patients in this series had high-grade, triple-negative tumors and were treated with optimal therapy.