The histologic and biologic spectrum of tubular carcinoma of the breast.

The authors performed a retrospective study, with a mean 7.5-year follow-up period, of 66 patients with tubular carcinoma of the breast. There were ten patients with sclerosing types of tubular carcinoma, 17 with pure forms, and 39 with tubular carcinoma mixed with another histologic type. Although all tumors had tubular formations, the nuclear grades of the mixed forms were less well differentiated than those of the other two subtypes. The mixed tubular carcinomas were also associated with axillary metastases more frequently than was either the sclerosing or the pure type. Of the five patients who died of breast carcinoma, three had mixed tubular carcinomas. The authors conclude that tubular carcinomas have a histologic and biologic spectrum of features and that the mixed form has a less favorable prognosis than the sclerosing or the pure type.