Sonography of Invasive Apocrine Carcinoma of the Breast in Five Cases

Korean J Radiol. 2015 Sep-Oct;16(5):1006-11. doi: 10.3348/kjr.2015.16.5.1006. Epub 2015 Aug 21.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the sonographic features of invasive apocrine carcinoma (IAC) of the breast.

Materials and methods: This study included five pathologically proven cases of IAC, and their sonographic features were retrospectively analyzed according to the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) lexicon.

Results: All five lesions involved the left breast and were seen as irregularly shaped masses. All lesions, except one, had a parallel orientation to the chest wall. All five lesions showed noncircumscribed margins and heterogeneous echotexture; however, they showed various posterior features. One lesion had edema as an associated feature. Sonographic assessments were classified as BI-RADS category 4 in all five cases.

Conclusion: Invasive apocrine carcinoma sonographic findings are difficult to differentiate from those of invasive ductal carcinoma of no special type.

Keywords: Breast; Invasive apocrine carcinoma; Sonography.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Apocrine Glands / diagnostic imaging
  • Apocrine Glands / pathology
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Carcinoma / diagnosis*
  • Carcinoma / diagnostic imaging
  • Carcinoma / pathology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / metabolism
  • Receptors, Estrogen / metabolism
  • Receptors, Progesterone / metabolism
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / metabolism
  • Ultrasonography

Substances

  • Receptors, Estrogen
  • Receptors, Progesterone
  • TP53 protein, human
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53
  • Receptor, ErbB-2