Sarcoma of the Breast

Abstract

Primary sarcoma of the breast is a rare condition and the number of published cases few. For this reason the prognosis following surgical treatment of these tumors and their biological reaction to radium and x-rays are still but imperfectly known. It seems worth while, therefore, to record even a short series of cases despite the fact that many of the older records are incomplete and the preservation of the tissues is often poor. Malignant connective-tissue tumors of the breast may arise in preexisting fibro-adenomas or may spring from any portion of the pectoralis major fascia whose trabeculations constitute the supporting septal framework of the breast. The fat, nerve, and underlying muscle tissue may also give rise to sarcomatous neoplasms, though each contributing tissue in its turn usually presents several types of cell constituents. Tumors formerly described as small-cell sarcomas of obscure origin are now usually regarded as small-cell undifferentiated carcinomas, lymphosarcomas, and myelomas. In addition to those tumors whose origin can be traced with fair certainty to a single type of preexisting connective tissue, there is a small group of mixed tumors composed of several distinct types of adult tissue suggesting a teratomatous origin except that all the components are mesodermal derivatives. A still more unusual type contains derivatives of two germ layers.