[Drug pathomorphosis of breast cancer (proceedings)]

Histological examinations were performed on the removed mammary glands of 79 patients with locally disseminated mammary gland carcinoma operated on after a course of polychemotherapy with 5-fluorouracyl, methatrexate, vincristin, cyclophosphane and hormonal treatment including ovariectomy in women of the reproductive age and in menopause up to 5 years followed by corticosteroid therapy. Signs of medicinal pathomorphosis were revealed in 70 patients. The patients were classified into 4 groups depending on the degree of pathomorphosis intensity. In most cases the latter corresponded to the intensity of the clinical effect. No association could be established between the degree of pathomorphosis and that of the tumour dissemination. Specific histological forms of cancer (mucinous carcinoma, lobular carcinoma) and highly differentiated forms (glandular carcinoma, scirr) are more resistant to the effect of antitumour drugs.