Hidradenoma papilliferum with a ductal carcinoma in situ component: case report and review of the literature.

Hidradenoma papilliferum (HP) is a benign cutaneous adnexal neoplasm occurring mainly in the anogenital region of adult women and has features analogous to intraductal papilloma of the breast. Malignant change in HP is extremely rare. Only a single case of ductal carcinoma in situ arising in HP has been previously reported. We present a new case of HP which, in addition to the typical appearance of HP, contained a focus of ductal carcinoma in situ that appeared as enlarged pleomorphic epithelial cells having a "blastic" appearance, exhibiting atypical mitotic figures and surrounded by myoepithelial cells. Molecular biological study identified human papillomavirus (HPV)-16, which, it may be argued, may have played a role in the development of the carcinoma.

Epstein-Barr virus infection and breast invasive ductal carcinoma in Egyptian women: A single center experience.

BACKGROUND: A controversy of the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in breast carcinomas has been reported in the literature. OBJECTIVES: We carried on this research to explore possible association between EBV infection and breast invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) in Egyptian women attending our center. STUDY DESIGN: This study carried out at Sohag university hospital on 84 paraffin embedded samples of breast tissue, of them 42 breast IDC as the case group and 42 breast fibroadenomas as the control group. Nested PCRand immunohistochemistry (IHC) done separately for all samples to identify the Epstein-Barr nuclear antigen-1 (EBNA-1) gene and EBV latent membrane protein-1 (LMP-1) respectively, in breast cancer cells and controls. RESULTS: Specimen considered positive when both (EBNA-1) gene and LMP-1 were detected using PCR and IHC separately for the same sample, this was achieved by 10/42 (23.81%) of breast IDC (case group) and 6/42 (14.29%) of breast fibro-adenomas (control group) (P-value=0.4). Nodal involvement was the only parameter that demonstrated a significant statistical relationship with EBV presence in cancerous tissue with p-value=0.003. CONCLUSION: Our research could not find a significant statistical association between EBV infection and breast IDC in Egyptian women attending our center, but, there might be an association between the existence of EBV and tumor aggressiveness.

Progression from normal breast pathology to breast cancer is associated with increasing prevalence of mouse mammary tumor virus-like sequences in men and women.

Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV)-like sequences have been found in up to 40% of breast cancer samples but in <2% of normal breast tissue samples from Australian women studied by our group. Screening of a larger and more diverse cohort of female breast cancer samples has now shown a correlation of MMTV-like sequences with the severity (grade) of breast cancer. Thirty-two percent (43 of 136) of female breast cancer samples were positive for MMTV-like sequences when screened using PCR. A significant gradient of MMTV positivity was observed with increasing severity of cancer from 23% of infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) grade I tumors to 34% of IDC grade II tumors (P = 0.00034) and 38% of IDC grade III tumors (P = 0.00002). We also report for the first time the detection of MMTV-like sequences in 62% (8 of 13) of male breast cancer samples and 19% (10 of 52) of male gynecomastia samples screened. MMTV-like sequences were demonstrated in various premalignant breast lesions of females, including fibroadenoma (20%) and fibrocystic disease (28%) samples, at a significantly higher prevalence than that seen in normal breast tissue (1.8%; P = 0.00001). Study of a longitudinal cohort of female breast cancer patients indicated that MMTV was co-incident with tumor but was not present when tumor was absent on histology. These results support the association of MMTV-like sequences with development of breast tumors in men and women and suggest association of MMTV with increasing severity of cancer.

High prevalence of MMTV-like env gene sequences in gestational breast cancer.

Gestational breast cancer (BC) is generally associated with rapid growth and increased mortality. Because the presence of MMTV-like sequences in BC has been associated with laminin receptor expression, a marker of poor prognosis, gestational BCs were analyzed for MMTV env gene-like sequences to explore whether MMTV-like sequences were also associated with its adverse outcome. Whereas 30-38% of sporadic BC have the sequences, in gestational BC the prevalence is 62%. We suggest that hormonal response elements present in the MMTV-like LTR may play a role in promoting cell growth, as they do in the mouse system.

Lack of detection of the mouse mammary tumor-like virus (MMTV) Env gene in Iranian women breast cancer using real time PCR.

BACKGROUND: Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) is the major cause of mammary tumors in mice. There is limited controversial evidence about the probable etiologic role of MMTV- like virus in human breast cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 40 Formalin fixed paraffin embedded samples with diagnosis of breast cancer were collected in a period of 3 years from cancer institute of Iran. We selected both pre-menopausal and post-menopausal patients with different histologic grades and different ethnic groups. We evaluated presence of MMTV-like virus env gene through real time PCR method. RESULTS: Forty patients (20 pre and 20 post- menopausal women) were evaluated with the mean age of 49.67. The average tumor size was 39 mm. None of the studied samples were positive for MMTV-like virus env gene target sequences. CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence on the potential role of MMTV-like virus in the carcinogenicity of breast cancer among Iranian women.