Abstract
Introduction
Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) is a rare and aggressive histologic subtype of
breast cancer comprising approximately 0.5% to 5.0% of all invasive breast cancers
with a poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options.
Patients and Methods
We investigated MBC at our institution to evaluate outcomes and investigate the molecular
profile of our cohort to determine the presence of mutations for which there are targeted
therapies.
Results
We found our cohort to consist mainly of the matrix-producing variant (72%) with 48%
having the stereotypical estrogen receptor-negative/progesterone receptor-negative/human
epidermal growth factor receptor-2-negative phenotype. While the overall survival
of our cohort was an average of 1679 days (4.6 years), we had a surprising number
of patients with second primaries (40%) and distant metastases (40%), yet few recurrences
(12%). Molecular analysis of the tumors indicated that one gene mutation, CSFIR, was significantly associated with outcome (P = .021); however, the cohort was defined by frequent mutations in ERBB4 (36%), PIK3CA (48%), and FLT3 (60%), for which there are now targeted therapies.
Conclusion
While surgery is the appropriate first step in the management of this aggressive malignancy,
the collection of data pertaining to the use of targeted agents, although anecdotal,
may provide clues to better treatment for these patients.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 22, 2016
Accepted:
July 18,
2016
Received in revised form:
June 26,
2016
Received:
October 9,
2015
Identification
Copyright
© 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
