Clinicopathologic profiling and oncologic outcomes of secretory carcinoma of the breast

Piguo Gong,Chen Xia,Junhua Yu,Lijun Ren,Yifeng Yang,Wang Lei,Yishun Ji,Weiping Yang,Fugui Ye

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-94351-w

Abstract

Secretory carcinoma of the breast (SCB) is a rather rare entity of invasive breast cancer, the clinicopathologic characteristics and survival outcomes remain to be elaborated. A retrospective review was conducted in SEER database. A total of 190 SCB patients identified in SEER were eligible for inclusion in the analysis. Median age at diagnosis was 56 years (range 2–96 years). Both sexes and bilateral breast could be affected. Intriguingly, the incidence of SCB tended towards to decreasing in recent decades. Small tumor burden was observed with a mean tumor size of 2.13 cm. In a subgroup with sufficient details, positive staining of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) was 58% and 40%, respectively. The vast majority of patients were of well to moderate differentiation (86.86%) and negative regional lymph nodes involvement (70.71%). Nearly half of the patients took radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Seniors were inclined to have an inferior breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) than their younger counterparts (P = 0.018). Patients underwent breast conserving surgery (BCS) and radiotherapy had much better BCSS than its mastectomy counterparts (P = 0.014). Collectively, SCB is a clinical indolent invasive breast cancer with excellent prognosis. BCS in conjunction with radiotherapy would be a rational alternative for this distinct entity.

Highlights

Secretory carcinoma of the breast (SCB) is a rather rare entity of invasive breast cancer, the clinicopathologic characteristics and survival outcomes remain to be elaborated
To date, limited studies have been conducted on rare cancers, many aspects are blind to clinicians, causing a worse prognosis for patients with rare cancers in comparison with common cancers
SCB has been reported as triple negative immunophenotype and positive staining for cytokeratins and EGFR, parallel to basal-like breast cancer, while the indolent clinical course as well as prolonged survival seem opposite to common triple negative breast cancer (TNBC)[6,7,8]

Summary

Introduction

Secretory carcinoma of the breast (SCB) is a rather rare entity of invasive breast cancer, the clinicopathologic characteristics and survival outcomes remain to be elaborated. To date, limited studies have been conducted on rare cancers, many aspects are blind to clinicians, causing a worse prognosis for patients with rare cancers in comparison with common cancers. Another dilemma is that little is known regarding approaches to prevent and accurate diagnosis of many rare c ancers[2]. The findings probably shed light on our better understanding and management of SCB

Methods

Results

Conclusion