Abstract
Adenomyoepithelioma is an uncommon primary breast tumor. It is conspicuous for two elements of the tumor, namely, ductal and myoepithelial components. Recently, a Mammotome biopsy, or stereotactic vacuum-assisted biopsy has become popular and various benign or borderline lesions are obtained. We report an adenomyoepithelioma of the breast in a 56-year-old woman. She was pointed out to have a cluster of some microcalcifications on mammography and a 9-mm hypoechoic mass lesion was detected by ultrasound. A Mammotome biopsy revealed a well-defined lesion. Histologically, the tumor demonstrated a thick and bi-cellular growth pattern consisting of ducts and myoepithelium. Immunohistochemically, epithelial cells were positive for cytokeratin AE1/AE3 and cytokeratin, epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), negative for alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA). In addition, myoepithelial cells were positive for alpha-SMA and CEA, which were scatterly positive for cytokeratin AE1/AE3, and negative for EMA. In examinations of non-palpable lesions found on mammography and ultrasound, a Mammotome biopsy is useful for making diagnosis, however, and adenomyoepithelioma is rarely found. In diagnosing such a rare disease from the limited information obtained from a needle biopsy, an immunohistochemical study was thus found to be useful for making a differential diagnosis.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Timothy WJ, James LC, Stuart JS. Nonmalignant lesions in breast core needle biopsies. Am J Sur Pathol 2002;26:1095–1110.
Rosen PP. Adenomyoepithelioma of the breast. Human Pathol 1987;18:1232–1237.
Tamura S, Enjoji M, Toyoshima S, Terasaka S. Adenomyoepithelioma of the breast. Acta Pathol Jpn 1988;38:659–665.
Tamura G, Monma N, Suzuki Y, Satodate R, Abe H. Adenomyoepithelioma of the breast in male. Human Pathol 1993;24:678–681.
Tavassoli FA. Myoepithelial lesions of the breast. Am J Surg Pathol 1991;15:554–568.
Chen PC, Chen CK, Nicastri AD, Wait RB. Myoepithelial carcinoma with distant metastasis and accompanied by adenomyoepitheliomas. Histopathology 1994;24:543–548.
Rosen PP, Obermaan HA. Myoepithelial neoplasms. In: Rosen PP, Obermaan HA, editors. Atlas of tumor pathology, third series, fascicle 7. Tumors of the mammary gland. Washington DC: Armed Forces Institute of Pathology; 1993. p. 91–100.
Young RH, Clement PB. Adenomyoepithelioma of the breast. Am J Clin Pathol 1988;89:308–314.
Rosen PP. Myoepithelial neoplasms. In: Rosen PP. Rosen’s breast pathology. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2001. p. 121–138.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yahara, T., Yamaguchi, R., Yokoyama, G. et al. Adenomyoepithelioma of the breast diagnosed by a mammotome biopsy: Report of a case. Surg Today 38, 144–146 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-007-3591-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-007-3591-8