[Sarcoma of the breast: what is the contribution of immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry?]

Only 0.2-1% of all mammary malignancies are sarcomas of the breast. This study includes 4 cases: 2 osteosarcomas, 1 fibrosarcoma, and 1 malignant undifferentiated stromal sarcoma. The therapy was mastectomy in 3 cases with dissection of axillary lymph nodes and simple mastectomy in one case. One patient demonstrated local recurrence and died. The remaining 3 patients developed neither metastases nor local recurrence. They are still alive after a follow-up period of between 18 months and 17 years. As first-line treatment, wide local excision or simple mastectomy is recommended. Dissection of the axillary lymphatics, adjuvant radiotherapy, or chemotherapy have no established value in the treatment of breast sarcoma. In our 4 cases, flow-cytometric analysis does not always agree with the biological properties of the tumour and the clinical behaviour, in contrast to the results obtained in respect of carcinomas.