Fine needle aspiration cytology of apocrine mammary carcinoma – Report of five cases

Apocrine carcinoma of breast: A rare entity posing cytological challenge

“…Type B cells show abundant cytoplasm with presence of fine empty vacuoles. Nuclei are similar to those in type A cells . The morphology in our case belonged to type A with PAS positive material.…”

“…They are Estrogen receptor (ER) and Progesterone receptor (PR) negative. Her 2neu is positive in 50% of cases and AR is found to be positive in 50–100% cases . The detection of AR and GCDFP‐15 is a specific marker for AC .…”

“…Apocrine carcinoma of the breast is a rare entity of possible sweat duct or ductal origin . Pure AC constitutes about 1–4% of all breast carcinomas .…”

“…The presentation varies from asymptomatic to the presence of a hard unilateral breast lump with irregular borders with or without skin or nipple retraction . It predominantly affects females in their 60 and 70 s . Apocrine carcinomas are found more frequently in outer quadrant however apocrine metaplasia and apocrine cysts are found most commonly in lower mammary quadrants.…”

“…Recently many authors are interested in hormonal expression of these tumors as they have a unique response to androgen administration . The prognosis of these tumors is considered more favorable than that of nonapocrine ductal carcinoma . Due to rarity of these tumors, definite conclusion is not possible .…”