Radial sclerosing lesions found on core needle biopsy: excision can be safely avoided.

AIMS: Radial sclerosing lesions (RSLs) are benign breast lesions composed of glandular and epithelial proliferations with stellate architecture and fibro-elastotic stroma, which can mimic invasive carcinoma on imaging. Surgical management following a core biopsy diagnosis of RSLs remains controversial. METHODS AND RESULTS: We retrospectively identified core biopsies with RSLs without atypia who underwent subsequent surgical excision between 2015 and 2021. All core biopsy slides were reviewed to confirm the diagnosis. Imaging was reviewed to determine radiological-pathological concordance. An upgrade was defined as invasive carcinoma or ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in the excision. The final cohort consisted of 130 core biopsies from 124 women (median age = 52 years, range = 27-76). The imaging modality was mammogram in 52 (40%) cases, MRI in 52 (40%) and ultrasound in 26 (20%). One hundred and seven (82%) core biopsies were vacuum-assisted and 23 (18%) were ultrasound-guided without vacuum assistance. The median lesion size on imaging was 9 mm (range = 2-41). Overall, two (1%) cases were upgraded at excision, including one microinvasive lobular carcinoma and one 2 mm focus of invasive mammary carcinoma with associated DCIS. In both cases, the upgraded foci of carcinoma were not closely associated with the biopsy site and were considered incidental upgrades. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the body of literature supporting observation, rather than routine excision of radial sclerosing lesions without atypia.

Genomic and epigenomic basis of breast invasive lobular carcinomas lacking CDH1 genetic alterations.

CDH1 (E-cadherin) bi-allelic inactivation is the hallmark alteration of breast invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), resulting in its discohesive phenotype. A subset of ILCs, however, lack CDH1 genetic/epigenetic inactivation, and their genetic underpinning is unknown. Through clinical targeted sequencing data reanalysis of 364 primary ILCs, we identified 25 ILCs lacking CDH1 bi-allelic genetic alterations. CDH1 promoter methylation was frequent (63%) in these cases. Targeted sequencing reanalysis revealed 3 ILCs harboring AXIN2 deleterious fusions (n = 2) or loss-of-function mutation (n = 1). Whole-genome sequencing of 3 cases lacking bi-allelic CDH1 genetic/epigenetic inactivation confirmed the AXIN2 mutation and no other cell-cell adhesion genetic alterations but revealed a new CTNND1 (p120) deleterious fusion. AXIN2 knock-out in MCF7 cells resulted in lobular-like features, including increased cellular migration and resistance to anoikis. Taken together, ILCs lacking CDH1 genetic/epigenetic alterations are driven by inactivating alterations in other cell adhesion genes (CTNND1 or AXIN2), endorsing a convergent phenotype in ILC.

Nonlobular Invasive Breast Carcinomas with Biallelic Pathogenic CDH1 Somatic Alterations: A Histologic, Immunophenotypic, and Genomic Characterization.

CDH1 encodes for E-cadherin, and its loss of function is the hallmark of invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). Albeit vanishingly rare, biallelic CDH1 alterations may be found in nonlobular breast carcinomas (NL-BCs). We sought to determine the clinicopathologic characteristics and repertoire of genetic alterations of NL-BCs harboring CDH1 biallelic genetic alterations. Analysis of 5842 breast cancers (BCs) subjected to clinical tumor-normal sequencing with an FDA-cleared multigene panel was conducted to identify BCs with biallelic CDH1 pathogenic/likely pathogenic somatic mutations lacking lobular features. The genomic profiles of NL-BCs with CDH1 biallelic genetic alterations were compared with those of ILCs and invasive ductal carcinomas (IDCs), matched by clinicopathologic characteristics. Of the 896 CDH1-altered BCs, 889 samples were excluded based on the diagnosis of invasive mixed ductal/lobular carcinoma or ILC or the detection of monoallelic CDH1 alterations. Only 7 of the 5842 (0.11%) BCs harbored biallelic CDH1 alterations and lacked lobular features. Of these, 4/7 (57%) cases were ER-positive/HER2-negative, 1/7 (14%) was ER-positive/HER2-positive, and 2/7 (29%) were ER-negative/HER2-negative. In total, 5/7 (71%) were of Nottingham grade 2, and 2/7 (29%) were of grade 3. The NL-BCs with CDH1 biallelic genetic alterations included a mucinous carcinoma (n = 1), IDCs with focal nested growth (n = 2), IDC with solid papillary (n = 1) or apocrine (n = 2) features, and an IDC of no special type (NST; n = 1). E-cadherin expression, as detected by immunohistochemistry, was absent (3/5) or aberrant (discontinuous membranous/cytoplasmic/granular; 2/5). However, NL-BCs with CDH1 biallelic genetic alterations displayed recurrent genetic alterations, including TP53, PIK3CA (57%, 4/7; each), FGFR1, and NCOR1 (28%, 2/7, each) alterations. Compared with CDH1 wild-type IDC-NSTs, NL-BCs less frequently harbored GATA3 mutations (0% vs 47%, P = .03), but no significant differences were detected when compared with matched ILCs. Therefore, NL-BCs with CDH1 biallelic genetic alterations are vanishingly rare, predominantly comprise IDCs with special histologic features, and have genomic features akin to luminal B ER-positive BCs.

Impact of reactive changes on multigene testing: histopathologic analysis of low-grade breast cancers with high-risk 21-gene recurrence scores.

PURPOSE: The 21-gene recurrence score (RS) assay predicts the recurrence risk and magnitude of chemotherapy benefit in patients with invasive breast cancer (BC). This study examined low-grade tumors yielding a high-risk RS and their outcomes.Kindly check the edit made in the article titleOk  METHODS: We compared patients with grade 1 BC and a high-risk RS to those with low-risk RS. Histologic sections were reviewed and features reported to elevate the RS were noted, mainly biopsy cavity and reactive stromal changes (BXC). RESULTS: A total of 54 patients had high-risk RS (median RS of 28, range 26-36). On review, BXC were seen in all cases. Thirty BCs in this group also had low to negative PR. Treatment regimens included: chemoendocrine therapy (63%), endocrine therapy alone (31%) and no adjuvant therapy (6%). There were no additional breast cancer events over a median follow-up of 54.0 months (range 6.2 to 145.3). A total of 108 patients had low-risk RS (median RS of 7, range 0-9). BXC were seen in 47% of cases and none were PR negative. One patient had a recurrence at 64.8 months while the rest had no additional events over a median of 68.1 months (2.4 to 100). CONCLUSION: We provide further evidence that reactive stromal changes and/or low-PR scores enhance the elevation of the RS. A high-RS result in low grade, PR-positive BC may not reflect actual risk and any suspected discrepancies should be discussed with the management teams. Multigene testing results should be interpreted after correlation with pathologic findings to optimize patient care.

The Role of Novel Immunohistochemical Markers for Special Types of Breast Carcinoma.

Some histologic special types of breast carcinoma harbor specific recurrent genetic alterations that are not seen in other types of breast carcinoma (no special type), namely adenoid cystic carcinoma, secretory carcinoma, and tall cell carcinoma with reversed polarity. These tumors have unique morphologic features, are triple-negative, that is, do not express hormone receptors or HER2, and are generally associated with a favorable prognosis. Adenoid cystic carcinoma, like its counterpart in other organs, shows a MYB-NFIB fusion gene that is the result of a recurrent t(6;9)(q22-23;p23-24) translocation. Other MYB alterations have been described that result in overexpression of MYB . Secretory carcinoma is characterized by an ETV6-NTRK3 gene fusion that is the result of recurrent (12;15);(p13;q25) translocation, which is also seen in mammary analog secretory carcinoma of the salivary gland. Tall cell carcinoma with reversed polarity shows IDH2 p.Arg172 hotspot mutations. Immunohistochemical antibodies have emerged that identify the underlying genetic alterations in these tumors and serve as useful diagnostic tools. This review will provide an update on the molecular features and diagnostic immunohistochemical markers that have become increasingly popular to aid in diagnosing these uncommon triple-negative breast tumors.

Is Surgical Excision of Focal Atypical Ductal Hyperplasia Warranted? Experience at a Tertiary Care Center.

BACKGROUND: The core-needle biopsy (CNB) diagnosis of atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH) generally mandates follow-up excision, but controversy exists on whether small foci of ADH require surgical management. This study evaluated the upgrade rate at excision of focal ADH (fADH), defined as 1 focus spanning ≤ 2 mm. METHODS: We retrospectively identified in-house CNBs with ADH as the highest-risk lesion obtained between January 2013 and December 2017. A radiologist assessed radiologic-pathologic concordance. All CNB slides were reviewed by two breast pathologists, and ADH was classified as fADH and nonfocal ADH based on extent. Only cases with follow-up excision were included. The slides of excision specimens with upgrade were reviewed. RESULTS: The final study cohort consisted of 208 radiologic-pathologic concordant CNBs, including 98 fADH and 110 nonfocal ADH. The imaging targets were calcifications (n = 157), a mass (n = 15), nonmass enhancement (n = 27), and mass enhancement (n = 9). Excision of fADH yielded seven (7%) upgrades (5 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), 2 invasive carcinoma) versus 24 (22%) upgrades (16 DCIS, 8 invasive carcinoma) at excision of nonfocal ADH (p = 0.01). Both invasive carcinomas found at excision of fADH were subcentimeter tubular carcinomas away from the biopsy site and deemed incidental. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show a significantly lower upgrade rate at excision of focal ADH than nonfocal ADH. This information can be valuable if nonsurgical management of patients with radiologic-pathologic concordant CNB diagnosis of focal ADH is being considered.

Do non-classic invasive lobular carcinomas derive a benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy?

PURPOSE: Invasive lobular breast cancers (ILCs) respond poorly to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). The degree of benefit of NAC among non-classic ILC (NC-ILC) variants compared with classic ILCs (C-ILCs) is unknown. METHODS: Consecutive patients with Stage I-III ILC treated from 2003 to 2019 with NAC and surgery were identified, and grouped as C-ILC or NC-ILC as per the original surgical pathology report, with pathologist (A.G.) review performed if original categorization was unclear. A subset of similarly treated invasive ductal cancers (IDCs) was identified for comparison. Clinicopathologic characteristics and pathologic complete response (pCR) rates were evaluated. RESULTS: Of 145 patients with ILC, 101 (70%) were C-ILC and 44 (30%) were NC-ILC (IDC cohort: 1157 patients). ILC patients were older, more often cT3/T4 and cN2/N3, and less often high-grade compared to IDC patients. Those with NC-ILC were less often ER+/HER2- (55% versus 93%), and more often HER2 + (25% versus 7%) and TN (21% versus 0%, all p < 0.001). Breast pCR was more common among NC-ILC, but most frequent in IDC. Nodal pCR rates were also lowest among C-ILC patients, but similar among NC-ILC and IDC patients. On multivariable analysis, C-ILC (OR 0.09) and LVI (OR 0.51) were predictive of lack of breast pCR; non-ER+/HER2- subtypes and breast pCR were predictive of nodal pCR. When our analysis was repeated with patients stratified by receptor subtype, histology was not independently predictive of either breast or nodal pCR. CONCLUSION: NC-ILC patients were significantly more likely to achieve breast and nodal pCR compared with C-ILC patients, but when stratified by subtype, histology was not independently predictive of breast or nodal pCR.

Solid-basaloid variant of adenoid cystic carcinoma of the breast with near complete response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Breast adenoid cystic carcinoma (AdCC) is a rare subtype of triple negative breast cancer. Two morphologic variants are described, namely classic AdCC (C-AdCC) and solid basaloid (SB-AdCC). Recent studies have shown that the SB-AdCC variant has significantly worse prognosis than C-AdCC. Due to the rarity of SB-AdCC, no standard recommendations are available for its management. Data on the use and benefit of chemotherapy in patients with SB-AdCC are sparse and the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy has not been reported. We present the clinical and pathologic findings of a patient with SB-AdCC treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy who achieved a remarkable pathologic response.

PD-L1 Expression in Metaplastic Breast Carcinoma Using the PD-L1 SP142 Assay and Concordance Among PD-L1 Immunohistochemical Assays.

Immunotherapy for the treatment of programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) positive locally advanced or metastatic triple negative breast cancer may benefit patients with metaplastic breast cancer (MpBC). Previous study of PD-L1 in MpBC scored tumor cells (TCs), different from Food and Drug Administration-approved scoring methods. We sought to define PD-L1 expression in MpBCs and to evaluate concordance of 3 PD-L1 assays. Primary, treatment naive MpBC treated at our Center from 1998 to 2019 were identified. PD-L1 expression was assessed using SP142, E1L3n, and 73-10. We evaluated PD-L1 expression on tumor infiltrating immune cells (IC) and also in TCs. For each assay, we scored PD-L1 expression using ≥1% IC expression according to the IMpassion130 trial criteria and using combined positive score (CPS) ≥10 according to the KEYNOTE-355 trial cutoff. A total of 42 MpBCs were identified. Most MpBC had PD-L1 positivity in ≥1% IC with all 3 assays (95%, 95%, 86%) in contrast to a maximum 71% with a CPS ≥10. PD-L1 IC expression was comparable between the SP142 and 73-10 assays and was lowest with E1L3n. PD-L1 TC expression was lowest using SP142. The overall concordance for IC scoring was 88% while 62% had concordant CPS. For each assay, the results of the 2 scoring algorithms were not interchangeable. The SP142 assay showed distinct expression patterns between IC (granular, dot-like) and TC (membranous) while 73-10 and E1L3n showed membranous and/or cytoplasmic expression in both IC and TC. Most MpBC in our cohort were positive for PD-L1 indicating eligibility for anti-PD-L1/programmed death-1 immunotherapy.

Multi-magnification-based machine learning as an ancillary tool for the pathologic assessment of shaved margins for breast carcinoma lumpectomy specimens.

The surgical margin status of breast lumpectomy specimens for invasive carcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) guides clinical decisions, as positive margins are associated with higher rates of local recurrence. The "cavity shave" method of margin assessment has the benefits of allowing the surgeon to orient shaved margins intraoperatively and the pathologist to assess one inked margin per specimen. We studied whether a deep convolutional neural network, a deep multi-magnification network (DMMN), could accurately segment carcinoma from benign tissue in whole slide images (WSIs) of shave margin slides, and therefore serve as a potential screening tool to improve the efficiency of microscopic evaluation of these specimens. Applying the pretrained DMMN model, or the initial model, to a validation set of 408 WSIs (348 benign, 60 with carcinoma) achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.941. After additional manual annotations and fine-tuning of the model, the updated model achieved an AUC of 0.968 with sensitivity set at 100% and corresponding specificity of 78%. We applied the initial model and updated model to a testing set of 427 WSIs (374 benign, 53 with carcinoma) which showed AUC values of 0.900 and 0.927, respectively. Using the pixel classification threshold selected from the validation set, the model achieved a sensitivity of 92% and specificity of 78%. The four false-negative classifications resulted from two small foci of DCIS (1 mm, 0.5 mm) and two foci of well-differentiated invasive carcinoma (3 mm, 1.5 mm). This proof-of-principle study demonstrates that a DMMN machine learning model can segment invasive carcinoma and DCIS in surgical margin specimens with high accuracy and has the potential to be used as a screening tool for pathologic assessment of these specimens.

Morphologic and immunohistochemical features of carcinoma involving microglandular adenosis of the breast following neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Microglandular adenosis (MGA)-related lesions, including atypical MGA (AMGA) and carcinoma involving MGA (C-MGA), are characterized by epithelial atypia, negative hormone receptors, and HER2 status, and can mimic invasive triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) in core needle biopsies (CNB) resulting in selection for treatment with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). We identified 12 cases of AMGA and/or C-MGA in post-NAC excision specimens (EXC) and analyzed their morphologic and immunohistochemical (IHC) features. All CNBs were initially diagnosed as containing TNBC. Upon re-review, TNBC was confirmed in nine cases. In three CNBs AMGA and/or C-MGA had been interpreted as TNBC. AMGA was initially recognized in only one case but AMGA and/or C-MGA were present in an additional nine CNBs. At EXC, no residual TNBC was present in 5 of 9 EXCs and all 12 cases showed residual AMGA and/or C-MGA. Similar to conventional MGA, AMGA, and C-MGA were positive for S-100, laminin and collagen IV and negative for calponin and p63. Following NAC, these lesions retained their typical staining pattern despite acquiring treatment-related morphologic alterations, most notably of which were areas of single cell growth pattern seen in eight EXCs. This study is the first to report the effects of NAC on AMGA and C-MGA. Our data showed no response of the AMGA and/or C-MGA following NAC in contrast to the high response rate of conventional TNBC. In particular, the infiltrative single cell pattern of post-NAC MGA-related lesions closely mimicked residual TNBC. The persistence of AMGA and C-MGA following NAC supports the notion that these lesions are distinct from conventional TNBC. Our findings also highlight the challenges in recognizing AMGA and C-MGA in CNBs which may lead to unwarranted treatment with NAC in the absence of conventional TNBC.

Deep Multi-Magnification Networks for multi-class breast cancer image segmentation.

Pathologic analysis of surgical excision specimens for breast carcinoma is important to evaluate the completeness of surgical excision and has implications for future treatment. This analysis is performed manually by pathologists reviewing histologic slides prepared from formalin-fixed tissue. In this paper, we present Deep Multi-Magnification Network trained by partial annotation for automated multi-class tissue segmentation by a set of patches from multiple magnifications in digitized whole slide images. Our proposed architecture with multi-encoder, multi-decoder, and multi-concatenation outperforms other single and multi-magnification-based architectures by achieving the highest mean intersection-over-union, and can be used to facilitate pathologists' assessments of breast cancer.

Interobserver Variation of PD-L1 SP142 Immunohistochemistry Interpretation in Breast Carcinoma: A Study of 79 Cases Using Whole Slide Imaging.

CONTEXT.­: The Ventana programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) SP142 immunohistochemical assay (IHC) is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as the companion diagnostic assay to identify patients with locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast cancer for immunotherapy with atezolizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting PD-L1. OBJECTIVE.­: To determine interobserver variability in PD-L1 SP142 IHC interpretation in invasive breast carcinoma. DESIGN.­: The pathology database was interrogated for all patients diagnosed with primary invasive, locally recurrent, or metastatic breast carcinoma on which PD-L1 SP142 IHC was performed from November 2018 to June 2019 at our institution. A subset of cases was selected using a computerized random-number generator. PD-L1 IHC was evaluated in stromal tumor-infiltrating immune cells using the IMpassion130 trial criteria, with positive cases defined as immunoreactivity in immune cells in 1% or more of the tumor area. IHC was interpreted on whole slide images by staff pathologists with breast pathology expertise. Interobserver variability was calculated using unweighted κ. RESULTS.­: A total of 79 cases were assessed by 8 pathologists. Interobserver agreement was substantial (κ = 0.727). There was complete agreement among all 8 pathologists in 62% (49 of 79) of cases, 7 pathologists or more in 84% (66 of 79) of cases, and 6 pathologists or more in 92% (73 of 79) of cases. In 4% (3 of 79) of cases, all of which were small biopsies, pathologists' interpretations were evenly split between scores of positive and negative. CONCLUSIONS.­: The findings show substantial agreement in PD-L1 SP142 IHC assessment of breast carcinoma cases among 8 pathologists at a single institution. Further study is warranted to define the basis for discrepant results.

Clinical and pathologic features associated with PD-L1 (SP142) expression in stromal tumor-infiltrating immune cells of triple-negative breast carcinoma.

The Ventana PD-L1 SP142 immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay is the FDA-approved companion diagnostic assay for atezolizumab therapy selection for patients with PD-L1-positive locally advanced or metastatic triple-negative breast carcinoma (TNBC). We aimed to elucidate clinical, pathologic, and molecular features associated with PD-L1 expression in TNBCs. Clinical, pathologic, and next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based molecular data for TNBCs tested with PD-L1 (SP142) IHC at our institution between 11/2018 and 12/2019 were retrieved and reviewed. PD-L1 positivity was defined as ≥1% IC staining. Patients with metastatic TNBC treated at first line with atezolizumab regimens were evaluated for treatment response and for time to treatment failure (TTF). Among 156 TNBCs, PD-L1 was positive in 47.4% of cases. Primary TNBCs were significantly more frequently PD-L1 positive, compared with recurrent/metastatic samples (p = 0.002). PD-L1-positive TNBCs had increased stromal IC, compared with PD-L1-negative samples (p < 0.001). The repertoire of somatic genetic alterations of PD-L1-positive and PD-L1-negative TNBCs was similar. Matched primary and recurrent/metastatic TNBC samples were available for eight patients, in whom four had discordant results. Thirty patients with metastatic TNBC were treated with atezolizumab regimens, with treatment failure occurring in 16 patients and a median TTF of 5.1 months in this early evaluation. The findings of this study show stromal ICs in primary TNBCs are more likely to show PD-L1 positivity than in recurrent or metastatic samples. This information should guide selection of samples suitable for testing. Further studies are needed to identify other features associated with PD-L1-positive breast carcinomas and clinical benefit of treatment.

E-cadherin immunohistochemical expression in invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast: correlation with morphology and CDH1 somatic alterations.

E-cadherin (ECAD) immunohistochemical (IHC) expression is lost in ∼90% of invasive lobular carcinomas (ILCs) owing to genomic alterations of CDH1. We examined morphologic features and ECAD IHC expression in invasive breast carcinomas (BCs) with known CDH1 alterations. Between January 2014 and May 2018, 202 cases of BC with a CDH1 somatic alteration were identified. ECAD expression was lost in 77% (155/202) of cases and was retained in 23% (47/202) cases. Most (90%, 139/155) ECAD-negative cases were morphologically classified as ILC, while the remaining (10%, 16/155) were invasive mammary carcinoma with mixed ductal and lobular features (IMC). Of 47 cases with ECAD staining, 62% (29/47) were classified as ILC, 23% (11/47) were classified as IMC, and 15% (7/47) were classified as invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). Of note, 51% (24/47) of ECAD-positive cases were initially diagnosed as IDC or IMC based on ECAD expression alone. For ECAD-negative BCs, 98% (152/155) of CDH1 alterations were truncating, and 2% (3/155) were variants of unknown significance (VUS). Truncating CDH1 alterations were identified in the majority of ECAD-positive BCs (72%, 34/47); however, VUS-type CDH1 alterations were more prevalent (28%, 13/47) in ECAD-positive BCs than in ECAD-negative BCs. Although 90% of ECAD-negative tumors were compatible with ILC in this study, 17% (29/168) of ILC cases were ECAD positive. In addition, CDH1 truncating alterations were seen in ECAD-positive ILC, supporting the notion of aberrant ECAD staining. Therefore, ECAD IHC expression must be interpreted in conjunction with morphology, and BC with classic histologic features of ILC should not be reclassified as IDC/IMC based solely on the status of ECAD IHC expression.

Flat Epithelial Atypia in Breast Core Needle Biopsies With Radiologic-Pathologic Concordance: Is Excision Necessary?

Flat epithelial atypia (FEA) is an alteration of terminal duct lobular units by a proliferation of ductal epithelium with low-grade atypia. No consensus exists on whether the diagnosis of FEA in core needle biopsy (CNB) requires excision (EXC). We retrospectively identified all in-house CNBs obtained between January 2012 and July 2018 with FEA. We reviewed all CNB slides and assessed radiologic-pathologic concordance. An upgrade was defined as invasive carcinoma (IC) and/or ductal carcinoma in situ in the EXC. The EXC slides of all upgraded cases were rereviewed. Out of ∼15,700 consecutive CNBs in the study period, 106 CNBs from 106 patients yielded FEA alone or with classic lobular neoplasia (LN). We excluded 52 CNBs (40 patients with prior/concurrent carcinoma and 12 without EXC). After rereview, we reclassified 14 cases (2 marked nuclear atypia, 10 focal atypical ductal hyperplasia, 2 benign). The final FEA study cohort consisted of 40 CNBs from 40 women. The CNB targeted mammographic calcifications in 36 (90%) cases, magnetic resonance imaging nonmass enhancement in 3 (8%), and 1 (2%) sonographic mass. All CNBs were deemed radiologic-pathologic concordant. FEA was present alone in 34 CNBs and with LN in 6. EXC yielded 2 low-grade IC, each spanning <2 mm, identified in tissue sections without biopsy site changes. The remaining 38 cases had no upgrade. Classic LN did not affect the upgrade. The upgrade rate of FEA was 5%; both minute, low-grade "incidental" IC. We conclude that nonsurgical management may be considered in patients without prior/concurrent carcinoma and radiologic-pathologic concordant CNB diagnosis of FEA.

Accuracy of Intraoperative Frozen Section of Sentinel Lymph Nodes After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Carcinoma.

False-negative (FN) intraoperative frozen section (FS) results of sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) have been reported to be more common after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in the primary surgical setting. We evaluated SLN FS assessment in breast cancer patients treated with NAC to determine the FN rate and the histomorphologic factors associated with FN results. Patients who had FS SLN assessment following NAC from July 2008 to July 2017 were identified. Of the 711 SLN FS cases, 522 were negative, 181 positive, and 8 deferred. The FN rate was 5.4% (28/522). There were no false-positive results. Of the 8 deferred cases, 5 were positive on permanent section and 3 were negative. There was a higher frequency of micrometastasis and isolated tumor cells in FN cases (P<0.001). There was a significant increase in tissue surface area present on permanent section slides compared with FS slides (P<0.001), highlighting the inherent technical limitations of FS and histologic under-sampling of tissue which leads to most FN results. The majority (25/28, 89%) of FN cases had metastatic foci identified exclusively on permanent sections and were not due to a true diagnostic interpretation error. FN cases were more frequently estrogen receptor positive (P<0.001), progesterone receptor positive (P=0.001), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative (P=0.009) and histologic grade 1 (P=0.015), which most likely reflects the lower rates of pathologic complete response in these tumors. Despite its limitations, FS is a reliable modality to assess the presence of SLN metastases in NAC treated patients.

Multifocal/Multicentric Ipsilateral Invasive Breast Carcinomas with Similar Histology: Is Multigene Testing of All Individual Foci Necessary?

BACKGROUND: Multiple synchronous ipsilateral invasive breast carcinomas (BCs) with similar histology usually have concordant receptor status. It is unknown whether individual foci with similar histology also share molecular and biological similarities or are heterogenous. This study examined the concordance of the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) in multiple synchronous morphologically similar ipsilateral BCs. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified patients with multiple ipsilateral BCs and available RS treated at our institution from 1/2014 to 6/2018. BCs were divided into three groups based on RS: (1) RS in same risk category, (2) RS in different risk categories but within 2-unit difference (e.g., RS 17 and RS 19), and (3) RS in different risk categories and a change of > 2 units. BCs in groups 1 and 2 were considered as concordant (no significant clinical impact) and BCs in group 3 as discordant (variation affects management). RESULTS: A total of 53 patients met the study criteria. RS was concordant in 46 (87%) cases. Seven (13%) cases were discordant (group 3). Of these, three (43%, 3/7) had biopsy cavity changes (BXC) adjacent to the BC with highest RS. In two cases the focus with higher RS had a lower percentage of progesterone receptor-positive tumor cells. In two cases, extensive ductal carcinoma in situ was associated with the BC focus with lower RS. CONCLUSIONS: Morphologically similar multifocal ipsilateral BCs have concordant RS in 87% (46/53) of cases. Our results suggest that, in cases of morphologically similar multifocal BCs, testing of a single focus provides accurate prognostic and predictive information.