Intracystic papillary carcinoma of the male breast: a case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Carcinoma of the male breast is an infrequent and poorly understood disease (Sinha et al. in Ann R Coll Surg Engl 88(5):W3-W5, 2006). It differs from female breast cancer in both demographic and histopathological characteristics. Herein we describe a case of intracystic papillary carcinoma in situ in a male breast with a review of the literature. Although rare, in situ carcinoma constitutes a larger proportion of male than female breast cancer in a non-screened population. It is characteristically of the papillary and micropapillary subtype. Intracystic papillary carcinoma is a noncomedo intraductal carcinoma constituting about 0.5% of female breast cancers and is associated with a slightly inferior prognosis than other noncomedo intraductal carcinomas (Lefkowitz et al. in Hum Pathol 25:802-809, 1994).