Invasive ductal carcinoma

comparison of histological grade between primary tumor and axillary metastasis

Abstract

Objective: To establish the histological grade of the axillary metastases in invasive ductal breast cancer cases and to compare it with the findings from the primary tumor. Methods: Cross-sectional study involving 69 cases of invasive ductal breast cancer from the mastology service of Assis Chateaubriand Maternity School, Ceará, Brazil, and their respective axillary metastases. The breast primary tumors and metastatic lymph nodes were subjected to histological processing and the histological grade (HG), tubular grade (TG), nuclear grade (NG) and mitotic index (MI) of the breast and axilla were subsequently determined by the Scarff-Bloom-Richardson grading system. Results: The highest HG prevailed among the primary tumors, with 52,2% classified as HG 3. When compared to the primary tumor, the axillary metastases showed a higher frequency of HG 3 (66,7%), TG 3 (85,5%), NG 3 (58%) and MI 2 (58%). Conclusion: The axillary implants revealed a more disorganized tissue morphology, which formed a lower number of tubules when compared to the breast primary tumors. However, there was no significant difference in the HG between the primary tumor and axillary metastasis in this sample.