[Value of basement membrane imaging in diagnosis of invasive carcinomas]

The destruction of the epithelial basement membrane is widely regarded as a clear criterion for invasive malignant tumor growth. Since, however, defects in the basement membrane may also occur in non-invasive conditions, such as inflammatory and proliferative lesions, and since it has been shown that particularly in highly differentiated squamous cell carcinomas a continuous basement membrane is mimicked by the presence of isolated components, this criterion seems to be of minor value for the diagnosis of malignancy. Despite these drawbacks, the immunolocalization of basement membrane material may still be of differential diagnostic significance in certain situations. This holds particularly true for invasive (ductal) breast carcinomas, which usually completely lack a basement membrane. Accordingly, sclerosing adenosis can be distinguished from invasive carcinoma, as a distinction can be made between neoplastic (malignant) tubular formations and reactive lesions.