Summary
Our study examined 166 patients with breast cancer with a mean age of 63 years. Each patient underwent mastectomy with the organ being investigated by histological giant sections and additional small sections from the nipple. Nipple involvement was found in 64 cases (38%). Multifocal carcinoma occurred in 76 patients. Further multicentric carcinomatous foci (36 cases) demonstrated a significant increase in affected nipples. Additional atypical ductal or lobular hyperplasia was observed in 53 cases and showed involvement in 34. Nine carcinomas of ductal origin were combined with lobular carcinoma in situ, all cases proved to have carcinomatous changes in the nipple. It is concluded that apart from the well-known influence of advanced tumor stages and tumor localization, nipple involvement correlates with multicentricity and multifocality of breast cancer as a disease of the whole organ.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
andersen JA, Pallesen RM (1979) Spread to the nipple and areola in carcinoma of the breast. Ann Surg 189:367–372
andersen JA, Gram JB, Pallesen RM (1981) Involvement of the nipple and areola in breast cancer. Scand J Plast Reconstr Surg 15:39–42
Beck Th, Schweikhart G (1985) Die Häufigkeit des Mamillenbefalls beim invasiven Mammakarzinom und Kriterien zum Erhalt der Mamillenhaut. Tumordiagnostik & Therapie 6:139–143
Bloom HJG, Richardson WW (1957) Histological grading and prognosis in breast cancer Br J Cancer 11:359–377
Citoler P, Zippel, H-H (1974) Carcinombefall der Mamille beim Mammacarcinom. Gynäkologe 7:186–189
Egan RL (1982) Multicentric breast carcinomas: clinical radiographic pathologic whole organ studies and 10-year survival. Cancer 49:1123–1130
Fisher B, Bauer M, Margolese R, Poisson R, Plich Y, Redmond L, Fisher B, Wolmark N, Deutsch M, Montague N et al. (1985) Five-years results of a radomized clinical trial comparing total mastectomy and segmental mastectomy with or without radiation in the treatment of breast cancer. N Engl J Med 312 (11):665–673
Gallagher HSt, Martin JF (1969) The study of mammary carcinoma by mammography and whole organ sectioning. Cancer 23:855–878
Kalbfleisch H, Thomas C (1985) Histological study on multicentricity of breast carcinoma by means of whole-organ sections. In: Zander J, Balzer J (eds) Early breast cancer: Spriger, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 20–32
Kappelmann W, Hick E-J, Karius I, Stegner HE (1981) Sur Frage der Mamillenbeteiligung beim Mammakarzinom. Geburtsh u Frauenheikd 43:30–32 (Sonderheft)
Kochem H-G, Schremmer C-N, Hirche H (1980) Zur Bedeutung der Mamille beim Brustdrüsenkrebs der Frau. Geburtsh u Frauenheilkd 40:32–38
Lagios MD, Westdahl PR, Rose MR (1981) The concepts and implications of multicentricity in breast carcinoma. Pathol Annu 16:83–102
Lagios MD, Westdahl RP, Rose ME, Concannon S (1984) Paget's disease of the nipple. Cancer 54:545–551
Millard DR, Devine J, Warren WD (1977) Breast reconstruction: a plea for saving the uninvolved nipple. Am J Surg 122:763–764
Morgenstern L, Kaufmann PA, Friedmann NB (1975) The case against tylectomy for carcinoma of the breast. Am J Surg 130:251–255
Muir R (1939) Further observations on Paget's disease of the nipple. J Pathol Bacteriol 49:299–312
Qualheim RF, Gall EA (1957) Breast carcinoma with multiple sites of origin. Cancer 10:460–468
Smith J, Payne S, Carney JA (1976) Involvement of the nippel and areola in carcinoma of the breast. Surg Gynecol Obstet 143:546–548
Veronesi U (1978) Value of limited surgery for breast cancer. Semin Oncol 5 (4):395–402
Vogt-Hörner G (1960) Propagations intramammaire dans le cancer du seins et rapport avec l'envahissement de ganglions lymphatique axillaires. Bull Cancer 7:290–297
Wertheim U, Ozzello L (1980) Neoplastic involvement of nipple and skin flap in carcinoma of breast. Am J Surg Path 4(6): 543–549
World Health Organisation (1981) Histological typing of breast tumors, 2nd edn, Genf
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Supported by the Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie (TNM 009)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lüttges, J., Kalbfleisch, H. & Prinz, P. Nipple involvement and multicentricity in breast cancer. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 113, 481–487 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00390043
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00390043