Invasive cribriform carcinoma (ICC) and low-grade invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) were recently considered to belong to a low-grade breast neoplasia family. However, none of publications has compared ICC and low-grade IDC at present. Meanwhile, in order to evaluate prognostic significance of clinicopathological characteristics of different cribriform contents in ICC and invasive breast cancer with less cribriform structures, a retrospective review of fifty-one cases of ICC and forty cases of invasive breast cancer with less cribriform pattern (less than fifty percent) was conducted in a Chinese population. Forty-nine cases of low-grade IDC without cribriform elements were selected as a control. ICC presented more favorable prognostic factors than those of invasive breast carcinoma with less cribriform pattern and low-grade IDC, such as smaller tumor size, less frequent axillary lymph node involvement, higher positive rate of estrogen receptor and/or progestogen receptor expression, and lower proliferation index. The expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor two in ICC and invasive breast cancer with less cribriform pattern was mostly negative. Pure ICC showed less frequency of axillary lymph node involvement, but not its number. The proliferation index in the pure type was lower, although the tumor size in these two types was not obviously different. Tumors contained cribriform structures had a more favorable prognosis than those with low-grade IDC. Considering the tumor biology, and the benign course of pure ICC studied, chemotherapy may not be indicated in the typical case.
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