Medullary carcinoma of the breast. A multicenter study of its diagnostic consistency

Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1993 Oct;117(10):1005-8.

Abstract

Nine pathologists from different institutions reviewed in a double-blind study 16 breast tumors previously indexed as typical medullary carcinoma, atypical medullary carcinoma, or infiltrative ductal carcinoma. A set of 16 slides was circulated two times among the nine pathologists. The diagnoses of typical and atypical medullary carcinomas were based on a definition given by Ridolfi et al. The interobserver and intraobserver agreement was low, with a kappa value of less than .50. The only histological criterion that had more than 50% agreement was the presence or absence of an in situ component in the tumor, assuming that the disagreement of one pathologist is accepted. This study is a snapshot of the problems encountered in the diagnosis of typical medullary carcinoma in a routine context and it shows high levels of variations in diagnostic consistency.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Carcinoma, Medullary / pathology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Observer Variation