Multicentric breast carcinomas: clinical-radiographic-pathologic whole organ studies and 10-year survival.

Selection of breast cancer patients with microscopically limited disease but with excess mortality or women with regional disease and lessened mortality has remained an unsolved and critical challenge. The many usual histologic features such as tumor size, stage of disease or tumor differentiations were found reduced to lessened significant prognostic factors by the presence of multicentricity of tumors and multiplicity of histologic types of carcinoma. This observation was noted upon review of 161 clinical, radiographic and histopathologic whole breast studies on 156 patients with follow-up from 11-15 years. Epidemiologic, clinical, and radiographic data had been compiled prospectively prior to diagnosis. Women with single site and single type of carcinoma had a better prognosis (2.5% mortality per year) than those with multiple sites and multipe types (15% mortality per year) even though the stage of the disease may be similar. When the latter groups contained a scirrhous type duct carcinoma, the annual mortality rate approached 25%.