[Establishing a cytogenetic and morphological progression models of invasive breast cancer. Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) in malignant and premalignant tumors of the female breast].

Ductal carcinoma in situ of the female breast and lobular carcinoma in situ are regarded as precursor lesions of invasive breast cancer. We used comparative genomic hybridization to analyze the genetic relationship between these two types of lesion and invasive breast cancer. The series included 166 patients with ductal or lobular carcinoma in situ and invasive breast cancer. Our results reflect the broad heterogeneity of morphologically different subtypes of invasive and noninvasive breast cancer. The data also provide evidence of multiple genetic pathways of invasive breast cancer associated with different morphological subtypes. In conclusion, we propose a combined model of morphological-genetic progression with various parallel pathways in the pathogenesis of invasive breast cancer.