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Flat epithelial atypia: are we being too aggressive?

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

The malignant upgrade rate of flat epithelial atypia (FEA) diagnosed on core needle biopsy varies between 0 and 30%. Excision versus observation with radiological follow-up for these lesions remains controversial. We hypothesize that the local rate of FEA is low and that close radiological surveillance is a reasonable treatment option for patients diagnosed with pure FEA on breast needle core needle biopsy.

Methods

This study was a retrospective review of a prospectively collated provincial pathology database. Patients diagnosed with FEA alone on needle core biopsy between 2006 and 2016 were included in our analysis. Patients who had FEA present together with either in situ or invasive carcinoma within the same biopsy cores were excluded. Along with patient demographics, the size of the lesion on preoperative imaging, the method of extraction, and the presence of co-existing benign and malignant pathology on final excision biopsy were analyzed. An independent pathological review was performed to confirm our results and help reduce inter-observer bias.

Results

The local rate of malignant upgrade when pure FEA is diagnosed on a breast needle core biopsy is 12%. Age at time of diagnosis, size of original lesion on mammogram, presence of atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) or atypical lobular hyperplasia on core needle biopsy, the use of vacuum-assisted biopsy (VAB), or concordant imaging did not significantly correlate with malignant upgrade risk. None of the patients who were managed with radiological follow-up had malignant upgrade during follow-up. Patients undergoing radiological follow-up alone were more likely to have a VAB, concordant imaging, and no concurrent ADH.

Conclusion

Our local malignant upgrade rate is consistent with published literature. We suggest radiological follow-up is a safe alternative in patients with pure flat epithelial atypia and concordant imaging, particularly those patients with small lesions in which microcalcifications can be removed completely with vacuum-assisted biopsy.

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Data availability

The datasets during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was not sponsored.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Ashley DiPasquale

  2. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Covenant Health, Misericordia Community Hospital, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Sveta Silverman & Erene Farag

  3. Department of Surgery, Covenant Health, Misericordia Community Hospital, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Lashan Peiris

Authors
  1. Ashley DiPasquale
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  2. Sveta Silverman
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  3. Erene Farag
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  4. Lashan Peiris
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by AD, SS, EF, and LP. The first draft of the manuscript was written by AD, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ashley DiPasquale.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Our research satisfied all the conditions in TCPS Article 5.5 and Article 12.3. Therefore, a waiver of consent was granted for secondary use of identifiable information or identifiable human biological materials in research.

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DiPasquale, A., Silverman, S., Farag, E. et al. Flat epithelial atypia: are we being too aggressive?. Breast Cancer Res Treat 179, 511–517 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-019-05481-9

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