Pleomorphic Lobular Carcinoma in a Male Breast: A Rare Occurrence

Abstract

Carcinoma of male breast is uncommon as it accounts for 0.7% of total breast cancer. The pathology of male breast cancer is remarkably similar to that of cancers seen in women. The same histological subtypes of invasive cancer are present, although papillary carcinomas (both invasive and in situ) are more common and lobular carcinomas are less common. The predominant histological type, in males, as in females, reported in large series has been infiltrating ductal carcinoma with scattered reports of infiltrating lobular carcinoma, all of them of classical type except for a single case of pleomorphic infiltrating lobular carcinoma. Herein, we describe a case of pleomorphic lobular carcinoma occurring in male breast.

Invasive lobular carcinoma of the male breast – a systematic review with an illustrative case study

“…In females, invasive LBC arises from lobular and terminal duct epithelium and is usually accompanied by in situ lobular neoplasia; however, lobular development does not occur in the male breast, and the exact origin of this subtype of breast carcinoma in men remains largely unexplained 12,17,18. Endogenous or exogenous stimulation of estrogen is thought to promote formation of acini and lobules, explaining why estrogen/androgen imbalance increases the risk of this malignancy 6.…”

“…This variant additionally has increased chromatin clumping, prominent nucleoli, and abundant cytoplasm 17. Such features lead to a more aggressive clinical course.…”

Le cancer du sein chez l’homme : approche épidémiologique, diagnostique, et thérapeutique : étude multicentrique rétrospective à propos de 95 cas

“…Enfin, 9 patients (10 %) ont dé veloppé un autre cancer, dans 33 % des cas il s'agit d'un cancer prostatique ou d'un cancer pulmonaire. [4,[6][7][8]. La fré quence de ce cancer varie en fonction des pays, cette variation suggè re l'impact de l'environnement sur l'incidence [9][10][11].…”

“…Le carcinome lobulaire est rare chez l'homme contrairement à la femme où il correspond au 2 e type histologique aprè s le carcinome canalaire infiltrant [6,8,14]. Nous n'avons retrouvé que 2 cas (2 %) de carcinome lobulaire infiltrant et 83 cas (87 %) de carcinome canalaire infiltrant.…”

Pleomorphic lobular carcinoma of the male breast with axillary lymph node involvement: a case report and review of literature

“…A higher incidence of HER2 gene amplification and a lower frequency of hormone receptor expression are other features typical of the pleomorphic variant when compared to its invasive lobular counterpart [4]. This subtype was first described in the female breast in 1992 by Eusebi et al who also highlighted the aggressive clinical course associated with it [12].…”