Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast: report of 23 cases

Objective To investigate the clinical and pathologic features of squamous cell carcinoma of the breast. Methods The clinical and pathologic data of 23 squamous cell carcinoma of the breast patients admitted between 1984 and 2013 to Tianjin Medical University Cancer Hospital was analyzed retrospectively. Results Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast was a very rare tumor accounting for 0.06% of all breast cancers. All of the 23 patients were females aged 28 years to 87 years(median age 49 years). Average tumor size was 4.5 cm. 9 patients suffered from lymph node metastasis at admission (39.1%). The positive rates of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) were 13.6% (3/23), 4.5%(1/23) and 0(0/20)respectively. With a follow-up time varying from 5 months to 36 months recurrence or metastasis were found in 8 patients, and another 1 patient was found having distant metastasis at admission. Lung metastasis (7/9) was most common.6 patients died. Conclusions Squamous cell carcinoma of the breast is highly invasive, with low rate of positive receptors and early distant metastasis or recurrence after operation, and poor patients' survival. Key words: Breast neoplasms; Pathology, clinical; Prognosis