Yahaya James, Mremi Alex
Department of Pathology, Makerere College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
Department of Biomedical Science, College of Health Sciences (CHS), The University of Dodoma, Dodoma, Tanzania.
Oxf Med Case Reports. 2020 Sep 22;2020(9):omaa070. doi: 10.1093/omcr/omaa070. eCollection 2020 Sep.
The pathogenesis of metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) is still debatable and it has been hypothesized that MBC develops as a result of transformation of epithelial cells into mesenchymal cells along with formation of a favorable tumor microenvironment. This favorable tumor microenvironment helps the transformed cells to undergo further mutations and clonal expansion. Case 1 was a 42-year old female with a 1-year history of a right breast fungating mass which was histologically confirmed to be matrix-producing type of MBC. Case 2 was a 47-year old female who presented with a recurrent left breast mass. Histologically, the tumor was confirmed to be carcinosarcomatous type of MBC. MBC is a rare, heterogeneous tumor with poor prognosis due to its aggressive behavior. It is more likely to mimic other benign breast conditions, therefore contributing to delay of diagnosis as it was for both of our patients herein presented.
化生性乳腺癌（MBC）的发病机制仍存在争议，据推测，MBC是上皮细胞向间充质细胞转化并形成有利的肿瘤微环境的结果。这种有利的肿瘤微环境有助于转化细胞进一步发生突变和克隆性扩增。病例1是一名42岁女性，有1年右乳溃疡性肿块病史，组织学确诊为产基质型MBC。病例2是一名47岁女性，表现为左乳复发性肿块。组织学检查证实该肿瘤为癌肉瘤型MBC。MBC是一种罕见的异质性肿瘤，因其侵袭性而预后不良。它更有可能酷似其他良性乳腺疾病，因此导致诊断延迟，就像我们这里介绍的两位患者一样。
