Skip to main content
NCBI home page
British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 1985 Feb;51(2):271–278. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1985.39

Frequency of benign and malignant breast lesions in 207 consecutive autopsies in Australian women.

P S Bhathal, R W Brown, G C Lesueur, I S Russell
PMCID: PMC1977023  PMID: 3966983

Abstract

A histopathological study was undertaken on breast tissue dissected during the course of 207 consecutive forensic post-mortems on women over the age of 15 years in order to define the frequency and types of lesions found in Australian women. At least 10 blocks were obtained from each breast and a total of 4,738 blocks were examined. A particularly high frequency of atypical hyperplasia (12.6%), carcinoma in situ (13.0%), focal secretory change (24.1%) and perilobular haemangiomas (11.2%) was found. The radial scar, considered by some to be a precursor of infiltrating ductal carcinoma was found in 7.7% of the women.

Full text

PDF
271

Images in this article

273Figure 2
on p.273
273Figure 3
on p.273
274Figure 4
on p.274
274Figure 5
on p.274
275Figure 6
on p.275
275Figure 7
on p.275
276Figure 8
on p.276

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Black M. M., Barclay T. H., Cutler S. J., Hankey B. F., Asire A. J. Association of atypical characteristics of benign breast lesions with subsequent risk of breast cancer. Cancer. 1972 Feb;29(2):338–343. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197202)29:2<338::aid-cncr2820290212>3.0.co;2-u. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brown R. W., Meehan C., Martin F. I., Bhathal P. S. Breast tumors in patients with hyperprolactinemia. Cancer. 1982 Jul 1;50(1):125–129. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(19820701)50:1<125::aid-cncr2820500123>3.0.co;2-d. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. FRANTZ V. K., PICKREN J. W., MELCHER G. W., AUCHINCLOSS H., Jr Indicence of chronic cystic disease in so-called "normal breasts; a study based on 225 postmortem examinations. Cancer. 1951 Jul;4(4):762–783. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(195107)4:4<762::aid-cncr2820040414>3.0.co;2-v. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fenoglio C., Lattes R. Sclerosing papillary proliferations in the female breast. A benign lesion often mistaken for carcinoma. Cancer. 1974 Mar;33(3):691–700. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197403)33:3<691::aid-cncr2820330313>3.0.co;2-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fisher E. R., Palekar A. S., Kotwal N., Lipana N. A nonencapsulated sclerosing lesion of the breast. Am J Clin Pathol. 1979 Mar;71(3):240–246. doi: 10.1093/ajcp/71.3.240. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Foote F. W., Stewart F. W. Comparative Studies of Cancerous Versus Noncancerous Breasts. Ann Surg. 1945 Jan;121(1):6–53. doi: 10.1097/00000658-194501000-00002. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Humphrey L. J., Swerdlow M. Histologic changes in clinically normal breasts at postmortem examination. Arch Surg. 1966 Feb;92(2):192–193. doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1966.01320200032005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kramer W. M., Rush B. F., Jr Mammary duct proliferation in the elderly. A histopathologic study. Cancer. 1973 Jan;31(1):130–137. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(197301)31:1<130::aid-cncr2820310117>3.0.co;2-n. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lee P. A., Kelly M. R., Wallin J. D. Increased prolactin levels during reserpine treatment of hypertensive patients. JAMA. 1976 May 24;235(21):2316–2317. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Lesueur G. C., Brown R. W., Bhathal P. S. Incidence of perilobular hemangioma in the female breast. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 1983 Jun;107(6):308–310. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. RYAN J. A., COADY C. J. Intraductal epithelial proliferation in the human breast-a comparative study. Can J Surg. 1962 Jan;5:12–19. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. SLOSS P. T., BENNETT W. A., CLAGETT O. T. Incidence in normal breasts of features associated with chronic cystic mastitis. Am J Pathol. 1957 Nov-Dec;33(6):1181–1191. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Shah H. S., Mathur B. B. Cystic disease and carcinoma of the breast. A four quadrant study of normal and cancerous breasts. Indian J Pathol Bacteriol. 1967 Apr;10(2):197–203. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Wellings S. R., Alpers C. E. Subgross pathologic features and incidence of radial scars in the breast. Hum Pathol. 1984 May;15(5):475–479. doi: 10.1016/s0046-8177(84)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Wellings S. R., Jensen H. M., Marcum R. G. An atlas of subgross pathology of the human breast with special reference to possible precancerous lesions. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1975 Aug;55(2):231–273. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from British Journal of Cancer are provided here courtesy of Cancer Research UK

RESOURCES