Clinicopathological characteristics
The clinicopathological characteristics of 27 NENB are summarized in Table 2. All were female patients,the median age was 64 years.All patients were presented with a palpable, painless lump in the breast.The tumors were located in the left breast in 18 cases(66.7 %) and in the right breast in 9 cases(33.3%). Tumor sizes were determined by gross pathological examination and ranged from 1.2-5.5 cm, the median tumor size was 3.5 cm. Most patients (17/27, 62.9%) had T2 disease (tumor size 2.0-5.0 cm) and positive lymph node metastases was reported in 48.1% (13/27) patients.
Table 2. Clinicopathological features contrast among NENB、NET and NEC
Clinicopathologic Parameter
|
NENB(%))
(n=27)
|
Well diferentiated NET(n=11)
|
Poorly diferentiated NEC(n=16)
|
P value
NET vs NEC
|
Age, years
|
|
|
|
|
<60
|
11(40.7)
|
3
|
8
|
0.237
|
≥60
|
16(59.3)
|
8
|
8
|
|
Tumor size, cm
|
|
|
|
|
≤2
|
6(22.2)
|
2
|
4
|
0.149
|
2-5
|
17(62.9)
|
9
|
8
|
|
>5
|
4(14.9)
|
0
|
4
|
|
Nodal status
|
|
|
|
|
Positive
|
13(48.1)
|
5
|
8
|
0.816
|
Negative
|
14(51.9)
|
6
|
8
|
|
M category
|
|
|
|
|
M0
|
24(88.9)
|
11
|
13
|
0.127
|
M1
|
3(11.1)
|
0
|
3
|
|
TNM stage
|
|
|
|
|
Ⅰ
|
3(22.2)
|
2
|
1
|
-
|
Ⅱ
|
17(55.5)
|
8
|
9
|
|
Ⅲ
|
5(14.8)
|
1
|
4
|
|
Ⅳ
|
2(7.5)
|
0
|
2
|
|
ER status
|
|
|
|
|
Positive
|
19(70.4)
|
10
|
9
|
0.052
|
Negative
|
8(29.6)
|
1
|
7
|
|
PR status
|
|
|
|
|
Positive
|
17(63.0)
|
9
|
8
|
0.092
|
Negative
|
10(37.0)
|
2
|
8
|
|
HER-2 status
|
|
|
|
|
Positive
|
0(0)
|
0
|
0
|
-
|
Negative
|
27(100.0)
|
11
|
16
|
|
KI67
|
|
|
|
|
<14%
|
6(22.2)
|
6
|
0
|
0.000
|
≥14%
|
21(77.8)
|
5
|
16
|
|
In general observation, 15 cases of tumors were well-defined, expansive growing.The cut surface was gray and white, in which 7 cases were partially or mostly gray and red. The other 12 cases, the boundary was unclear and gray-yellow necrotic areas were visible.
Under microscope,the tumor cells of well-differentiated NET were arranged in solid island, trabecular shape or ribbon shape with low to intermediate nuclear grade. Blood sinusoids can be seen between the tumor cell nests. The tumor cells were of medium size and relatively uniform in shape. The nucleus were single, round and had smooth or irregular borders. The cytoplasm were rich and some were more transparent. The mitotic figures were rare.
Poorly differentiated NEC were infiltrative with densely packed hyperchromatic cells with scant cytoplasm. the tumor cells were ovoid to spindled and showed dense chromatin with crush artifact. Mitotic figures were abundant. Primary small cell carcinoma of the breast was histologically similar to lung counterpart, characterized by densely packed hyperchromatic cells with scant cytoplasm(Figure 1).
Figure 1A: Well-differentiated NET of the breast with trabecular growth pattern.(magnification, ×100). B: Poorly differentiated NEC with densely packed hyperchromatic cells.(magnification, ×100)C:Ductal carcinoma in situ components can be seen in NENB .(magnification,×100)D:Obvious necrosis can be seen in poorly differentiated NEC .(magnification, ×100)
Immunohistochemical Profile
In our group,48.1% cases showed the expression of CgA (13/27), CD56 was positive in 21/27 (77.8% ) cases,INSM1 was expressed in 23/27 (85.2%) cases and the positive rate of Syn was 100.0% (27/27).
ER was positive in 19 (70.4%) patients and PR positive in 17(63.0%) patients. HER-2 was negative in 27 (100.0%) patients. There were 3 cases of 1+ in HER-2, 1 case of 2+ and no case of 3+. The case of HER-2 immunohistochemistry 2+ was tesed for HER-2 FISH and there was no HER-2 gene amplification.6 cases(22.2%)had a low Ki-67 index (< 14%), and21 cases (77.8%) had a proliferation index ≥ 14%(Figure 2).
11cases (40.7%) were well-differentiated NETs and 16 cases (59.3%) were poorly differentiated NEC.In NETs the positive rate of ER was 10/11(90.9%) ,while in NEC the positive rate of ER was 9/16(56.3%) . On the basis of immunophenotypes,most of NENBs were of the luminal molecular subtype ,6 cases were luminalA and 15cases were luminal B ,6 cases were TNBC and had no HER-2 overexpression subtypes.
Treatment modalities
Currently there is no standard therapy for NENB,most treatments are similar to the treatment of invasive carcinomas, no special type(NST). Surgery was the first-line therapy,followed by chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.In our group all patients received surgical treatment. The most common surgical procedure was modified radical mastectomy (MRM), which was performed in 21 patients,4 cases received simple resection and sentinel lymph node biopsy.2 cases underwent puncture diagnosis and neoadjuvant chemotherapy plus radical mastectomy. All cases had received chemotherapy, 14 cases had received radiotherapy and 19 cases with positive ER expression had received adjuvant hormonal therapy.
Outcome, recurrence and prognosis
All patients were followed up until February2020, the median follow-up time was 76 months (range, 39–87 months).In well diferentiated NET group(H), 4 cases developed disease progression, of them one patient had local recurrence and survived long-term after treatment, 3 cases had distant metastasis(1, lung metastasis; 1, liver metastasis; and 1, multiple metastasis with lung, liver ,brain).In poorly diferentiated NEC group(L), 12 patients had disease progression, of them 4 patients had local recurrence:2 cases survived long-term after treatment and 2 cases had progressed to distant metastasis after treatment.8 patients had distant metastasis (1, lung metastasis; 2, liver metastasis; and 5, multiple metastasis with lung, liver ,brain,bone).For 5-year DFS, the well diferentiated NET group was 63.6% and poorly diferentiated NEC group was 25%. There was a statistical difference between the two groups (P=0.033).For 5-year OS the well diferentiated NET group(72.7%) was also significantly better than poorly diferentiated NEC group (37.5%) (P=0.046).(Figure 3)