Case report: male breast carcinoma - mucinous adenocarcinoma a rare entity
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2349-2902.isj20150518Keywords:
Male beast carcinoma, Mucinous adenocarcinomaAbstract
Male breast carcinoma is an uncommon neoplasm, accounting for 0.6% of all breast carcinomas and <0.5% of malignancies in men. Mucinous carcinoma is histopathologically characterized by the presence of clusters of neoplastic cell is suspended in extensive extracellular mucin. However, its occurrence in the male breast is extremely rare. A 54-year-old male presented with a subareolar firm to hard mass in the left breast, fixed to the overlying skin for 6 months duration. Physical examination revealed a well-circumscribed nodule, measuring 4x3 cm in diameter, in the left breast. Axillary lymph nodes were not palpable. The provisional diagnosis of carcinoma of breast was made and Fine-Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) was advised. Smears showed abundant mucinous stroma in background with atypical cells lying in groups and also individually dispersed showing round to oval nuclei with regular nuclear margins and 1-2 prominent nucleoli. Modified Radical Mastectomy of left breast was done with ipsilateral axillary dissection. Grossly the mastectomy specimen was measuring 7x4x4 cm, nipple and areola was normal. Histopathology showed tumor cells arranged in nests and solid pattern floating in abundant extracellular mucin and thus confirmed the diagnosis of mucinous breast carcinoma. Male Breast Carcinoma (MBC) is an uncommon neoplasm and pure mucinous carcinoma of the male breast is an extremely rare neoplasm. The pure form is defined as a lesion with a mucinous carcinoma component in more than 90% of the tumor, and the mixed type has both mucinous and conventional invasive carcinoma components. Reported that the prognosis of pure mucinous carcinoma is more favorable than that of mixed type in females. Prognosis in male breast carcinoma is poor, maybe due to the smaller size of breast mass, which increases the probability of the involvement of surrounding structures. Prognosis depends on the stage at diagnosis as determined by tumor size and nodal metastasis. Estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor positivity has been noted in 90% of cases. Pure mucinous carcinoma is associated with a better prognosis and a low rate for axillary lymph node metastases.
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