Histological findings in breast tissue specimens from reduction mammoplasties

Tissue specimens from 55 consecutive reduction mammoplasty operations were studied histologically for changes considered to be associated to an increased risk in the development of invasive breast cancer. A thorough sampling of all removed tissues was performed and nearly all solid parts were processed for histological evaluation. We found that in 47 specimens, most of which belonged to women younger than 40 years of age (39), both breasts presented either no-proliferative changes or mild hyperplastic lesions of the usual type and thus the women had no increased risk for breast cancer development. In 7 breast specimens, all of them from women older than 30 years, the changes observed ranged from florid hyperplasia to atypical ductal or lobular hyperplasia, which are lesions considered to be associated to a relatively increased risk of invasive carcinoma. Finally we present a case of infiltrative ductal carcinoma with extensive lesions of atypical hyperplasia and combined ductal and lobular carcinoma in situ in both breasts, which developed 3 years after reduction mammoplasty in which changes of atypical hyperplasia were found. We suggest that reduction mammoplasty specimens should be handled with particular care and according to the women's age.