Published online Oct 16, 2013. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v1.i7.227
Revised: August 29, 2013
Accepted: September 3, 2013
Published online: October 16, 2013
Processing time: 146 Days and 21.7 Hours
The term “intracystic papillary ductal carcinoma in situ”, has recently changed and is now more appropriately referred to as “intracystic papillary carcinoma’’ constituting only 0.5% to 1% of all breast cancers. Herein, we discuss an unusual case of intracystic insitu papillary carcinoma of breast in a postmenopausal woman, the diagnosis of which was made on histopathology and confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Patient responded well to postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy without any recurrence, thereby preventing further morbidity and mortality related to invasion or tumor progression. So careful histopathological evaluation is the mainstay to arrive at the correct diagnosis to avoid untoward complications related to under diagnosis and /over diagnosis.
Core tip: The onco surgeon and onco pathologist should keep in mind this rare type of insitu carcinoma as a differential diagnosis in palpable breast lumps as it often mimics a benign lesion clinically. However, careful histopathological evaluation superadded by immunohistochemistry is an effective tool to arrive at the correct diagnosis to avoid untoward complications related to under diagnosis and/over diagnosis.