Multifocality and multicentricity (MFMC) are frequently used descriptors to assess the extent of disease in patients presenting breast cancer. The presence of two or more foci of cancer within the same breast quadrant is defined as multifocal, while the presence of two or more foci of cancer in different quadrants of the same breast is defined as multicentric. The nomenclature is widely used to describe multiple tumors diagnosed clinically on physical examination, on breast imaging studies including mammogram, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or on pathologic analysis.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Andea, A.A., Wallis, T., Newman, L.A., Bouwman, D., Dey, J., and Visscher, D.W. 2002. Pathologic analysis of tumor size and lymph node status in multifocal/multicentric breast carcinoma.Cancer 94: 1383–1390
Coombs, N.J., and Boyages, J. 2005. Multifocal and multicentric breast cancer: does each focus matter?J. Clin. Oncol.23: 7497–7502
Greene, F.L., Page, D.P., Fleming, I.D., Fritz, A.G., Balch, C.M., Haller, D.G., and Morrow, M. 2001.American Joint Commission on Cancer Staging Handbook(6th ed.): 256–281
Holland, R., Veiling, S.H., Mrauunac, M., and Hendriks, J.H. 1985. Histologic multifocality of Tis, T1–2breast carcinomas. Implications for clinical trials of breast-conserving surgery.Cancer 56: 979–990
Litton, J.K., Eralp, Y., Gonzalez-Angulo, A.M., Broglio, K., Uyei, A., Hortobagyi, G.N., and Arun, B. 2007. Multifocal breast cancer in women < / = 35 years old.Cancer 110: 1445–1450
Noguchi, S., Aihara, T., Koyama, H., Motomura, K., Inaji, H., and Imaoka S. 1994. Discrimination between multicentric and multifocal carcinomas of the breast through clonal analysis.Cancer 74: 872–877
Oh, J.L., Dryden, M.J., Woodward, W.A., Yu, T.K., Tereffe, W., Strom, E.A., Perkins, G.H., Middleton, L., Hunt, K.K., Giordano, S.H., Oswald, M.J., Domain, D., and Buchholz, T.A. 2006. Locoregional control of clinically diagnosed multifocal or multicentric breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and locore-gional therapy.J. Clin. Oncol.24: 4971–4975. Sardanelli, F., Giuseppetti, G.M., Panizza, P., Bazzocchi, M., Fausto, A., Simonetti, G., Lattanzio, V., and Del Maschio, A. 2004. Sensitivity of MRI versus mammography for detecting foci of multifocal, multicentric breast cancer in fatty and dense breasts using the whole-breast pathologic examination as a gold standard.AJR Am. J. Roentgenol.183: 1149–1157
Sardanelli, F., Giuseppetti, G.M., Panizza, P., Bazzocchi, M., Fausto, A., Simonetti, G., Lattanzio, V., and Del Maschio, A. 2004. Sensitivity of MRI versus mammography for detecting foci of multifocal, multicentric breast cancer in fatty and dense breasts using the whole-breast pathologic examination as a gold standard.AJR Am. J. Roentgenol.183: 1149–1157
Teixeira, M.R., Pandis, N., Bardi, G., Andersen, J.A., Bohler, P.J., Qvist, H., and Heim, S. 1997. Discrimination between multicentric and multifocal breast carcinoma by cytoge-netic investigation of macroscopically distinct ipsilateral lesions.Genes Chromos. Cancer 18: 170–174
Wilkinson, L.S., Given-Wilson, R., Hall, T., Potts, H., Sharma, A.K., and Smith, E. 2005. Increasing the diagnosis of multifocal primary breast cancer by the use of bilateral whole-breast ultrasound.Clin. Radiol.60: 573–578
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer Science + Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Oh, J.L. (2008). Multifocal or Multicentric Breast Cancer: Understanding Its Impact on Management and Treatment Outcomes. In: Hayat, M.A. (eds) Methods of Cancer Diagnosis, Therapy and Prognosis. Methods of Cancer Diagnosis, Therapy and Prognosis, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8369-3_40
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8369-3_40
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-8368-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-8369-3
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)