[Histopathologic studies on whole organ giant section in breast cancer. II. Multicentricity and the chief primary lesion].

From April 1988 to January 1989, histopathologic studies on whole organ serial sections was done in 200 radical mastectomy specimens of female breast carcinoma. Results showed that the chief primary lesion measuring 0.5-1.0 cm or less in diameter had more multiple primary foci. With increasing size of the chief primary lesion, the incidence of multicentricity decreased. No significant relationship was found between the pathologic type of the chief primary lesion and multicentricity. But, in the non-invasive carcinoma, especially in carcinoma arising from the papillomatosis, invasive carcinoma of mucinous type and intraductal carcinoma with early infiltration were prone to develop multicentricity. The multicentricity in the second primary breast cancer was more common than in the first.