Changes of cells from metastases of ductal breast carcinoma developed in uterus and ovaries

Abstract

In the evolution of breast cancer, the appearance of metastases represents a decisive moment. Scientists have been trying for a long time to decipher how the metastases appear. The aim of this study is to highlight and compare the immunohistochemical characteristics of the cells from breast cancer metastases found in the uterus and ovaries. A 62-year-old patient diagnosed four years before with poorly differentiated breast ductal carcinoma arrived at the “Sf. Ioan” Emergency Clinical Hospital from Bucharest because a control computed tomography detected abnormal tumoral changes at the level of the internal genital organs. After reassessment, a hysterectomy with bilateral adnexectomy was performed. The histopathological and immunohistochemical examination of tumors found in the uterus and ovaries, which aimed to identify their nature, established that they were metastases of the ductal breast carcinoma. This situation allowed us to study comparatively their characteristics. We found significant differences: the PGR expression declined from 65-70% of cells in the primary tumor to 40% in the ovarian metastases and to 3% of cells in uterine metastases, and Ki67 expression increased from 2-4% of cells in the primary tumor to 10-15% in the ovarian metastases and up to 30% of cells in uterine metastases. These significant differences in the expression of immunohistochemical markers suggest that newly formed cell lines gain new characteristics that create advantages for them, so that they are favored in terms of dissemination, grafting and growth in a specific host organ.