Medullary carcinoma breast a clinicopathologic correlative study

Medullary carcinoma of breast is an uncommon distinct type of ductal carcinoma with unique morphological, immunohistochemical and prognostic features. An intriguing feature of this subtype is the relatively better prognosis compared to invasive ductal carcinoma, despite the high-grade histological appearance. This necessitates the precise recognition of this entity. A review of the 411 breast carcinoma cases reported in the Department of Pathology, Sri Ramachandra Medical College & Research Institute from 2008 to 2013, revealed 10 cases to be medullary carcinoma. The morphological, immunohistochemical findings, clinical features, treatment history and prognosis were procured and analyzed. The most common age group noted in our series of medullary carcinoma was the 7th decade with a mean age of 53 years. The most common location was upper and inner quadrant, as against upper and outer quadrant in IDC NOS. The mean tumor size was 3.25cm in greatest diameter. Seventy percent of medullary carcinomas presented in pT2 N0 cM0. In our study all the cases were of triple negative molecular subtype. Follow up data was available in 50% of the cases. None of them showed recurrence or metastasis.