1990 Volume 51 Issue 1 Pages 75-79
Mucinous carcinoma of the breast is a relatively rare histological type of breast cancer and its prognosis is believed to be better than other types. Mucinous carcinoma was found in only six (4.5%) of 134 patients with breast cancer who underwent surgery in our hospital from 1983 to 1988. Neither lymph node metastasis nor remote metastasis was observed in any of the six. Carcinoma did not recur in any of them up to now. However, it has been reported by some groups that prognosis of mucinous carcinoma is not always favorable. In mixed type with ductal carcinoma, the lymph node metastasis rate was generally high, and there were no differences in prognosis from other histological types of breast cancer. We presumed, therefore, that preoperative classification into subtypes would be useful for determining operative procedure and prognosis, and carried out to classify mucinous carcinomas into subtypes by means of ultrasonography for a discussion.
