Fine-needle aspiration detects primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast in a patient with breast implants

Head to head: Do neuroendocrine tumours in the breast truly exist?

Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease with a spectrum of morphological features. Concepts of histogenesis and differentiation in BC remain controversial. Recent evidence supports differentiation rather than histogenesis as the underlying mechanism for the myriad morphological appearances of BC. Prognosis and response to therapy are determined by a combination of factors including tumour grade, stage and receptor status whereas tumour histological types play an independent role in only limited examples. Neuroendocrine tumours (NETs) comprise one of the most debated entities in the breast since their first description. Apart from the rare small cell NE carcinoma (NEC) which has well-characterised features similar to their counterparts in other organs, the true existence, diagnostic criteria and clinical significance of NE neoplasms (NENs) in the breast are shrouded in controversy. At the core of this discussion is whether normal NE cells exist in the breast, and if breast NETs have distinct morphology and clinical behaviour. When NETs are encountered in the breast, metastatic origin has to be excluded. The more frequent situation in which NE differentiation is observed in breast cancers is in the context of recognisable, morphologically well described special type neoplasms like the hypercellular mucinous carcinoma and solid papillary carcinoma. In this review, arguments for and against maintaining the category of NENs in the breast are articulated in relation to existing literature on this group of unusual tumours.

Primary Neuroendocrine Breast Carcinoma in a 13-Year-Old Girl: Ultrasonography and Pathology Findings

Neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) of the breast is a rare disease and has been scarcely reported by African authors. The authors report a case of breast NEC in a 13-year-old African girl initially diagnosed as an atypical adenofibroma by ultrasonography. Ultrasound-guided biopsy and conventional histological examination indicated two potential diagnoses: primary malignant non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and undifferentiated carcinoma. According to immunohistochemistry performed on paraffin blocks in France, infiltrating ductal carcinoma with a strong neuroendocrine component was confirmed by CD56, CD57, and chromogranin A markers.