Breast Pathology Flashcards
How may breast disease present?
Lump
Abnormal screening mammogram
Nipple discharge
How do you examine breast disease?
Clinical examination
Imaging- sonography, mammography and MRI
Pathology- cytopathology and/ or histopathology
How do you take an FNA?
16/18G needle
How do you take a cytopathology sample?
Cells spread across a slide and stained.
Good cellular detail & quick to prepare but no
architecture.
In breast disease used in the investigation of nipple
discharge and palpable lumps.
How do you code aspirates of breast lumps?
C1 = inadequate
C2 = benign
C3 = atypia, probably benign
C4 = suspicious of malignancy
C5 = malignant
What does this show?
Breast FNA samples. Top right is normal. Top left is C2. Middle left is C3. Middle right is C4. Bottom is C5 (Malignant).
How do you take histopathology samples?
Intact tissue removed, fixed in formalin, embedded in paraffin wax, thinly sliced, stained with H&E.
Core biopsies, surgical excisions.
Takes 24 hours to process.
Architectural & cellular detail.
What are the inflammatory breast diseases?
Duct ectasia
Acute mastitis
Fat necrosis
What are the benign breast diseases?
Fibrocystic disease
Fibroadenoma
Phyllodes tumour
Intraductal papilloma
Radial scar
What are the proliferative breast diseases?
Usual epithelial hyperplasia
Flat epithelial atypia/ atypical ductal carcinoma
In situ lobular neoplasia
What are the malignant breast diseases?
Ductal carcinoma in situ
Invasive breast carcinomas
What is duct ectasia?
Benign inflammation and dilation of large breast ducts. No malignancy risk.
Aetiology unclear.
Usually presents with nipple discharge. Sometimes causes breast pain, breast mass and nipple retraction.
What is the cytology of duct ectasia?
Nipple discharge shows proteinaceous material and inflammatory cells only.
What is acute mastitis?
Acute inflammation of the breast often seen in lactating women due to cracked skin and milk stasis. Therefore it presents with painful red breasts.
It is associated with duct ectasia and STAPHYLOCCI.
What is the treatment of acute mastitis?
Drainage and antibiotics
What is Fat necrosis?
Inflammatory damage to adipose tissues caused by trauma, malignancy, surgery or radiotherapy.
BENIGN breast mass.
What is fibrocystic disease?
A group of alterations in the breast which reflect normal, albeit exaggerated, responses to hormonal influences.
It is very common and causes breast lumpiness but there is no risk of breast carcinoma.
What is a fibroadenoma?
Common benign fibroepithelial neoplasm of the breast.
How does a fibroadenoma look?
A well circumscribed mobile breast lump in young women aged 20-30
How do you treat a fibroadenoma?
Shelling out
What is a Phyllodes tumours?
A group of potentially aggressive fibroepithelial neoplasms of the breast which are uncommon.
Can be benign, borderline and malignant.
How do Phyllodes tumours present?
Enlarging masses in women >50 and may arise within pre existing fibroadenomas.
Mostly benign but some can be more aggressive.
What is an intraductal papilloma?
A benign papillary tumour arising within the duct
system of the breast.
Arise within small terminal ductules (peripheral
papillomas) or larger lactiferous ducts (central
papillomas) .
How does an intraductal papilloma present?
Common.
Seen mostly in women aged 40-60.
Central papillomas present with nipple discharge.
Peripheral papillomas may remain clinically silent if
small.
Excision of involved duct is curative.
What is a radial scar?
A benign sclerosing lesion characterised by a central
zone of scarring surrounded by a radiating zone of
proliferating glandular tissue.
How big are radial scars?
Range in size from tiny microscopic lesions to large
clinically apparent masses.
Lesions >1 cm are sometimes called “complex sclerosing
lesions”.
How do radial scars present?
Reasonably common lesions.
Thought to represent an exuberant reparative
phenomenon in response to areas of tissue damage in
the breast.
Usually present as stellate masses on screening
mammograms which may closely a carcinoma.
How do you repair a radial scar?
Excision
What are proliferative breast diseases?
A group of intraductal proliferative lesions associated with an increased risk of invasive breast carcinoma.