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. 2005 Sep 20;93(9):1046–1052. doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6602787

Table 2. Relationship between breast cancer histology and tumour stage, ER/PR status, and grade among women diagnosed at 50–89 years of agea.

  Ductal (n=74 798) Lobular (n=9387)
Ductal/lobular (n=7359)
Mucinous (n=2730)
Comedo (n=1372)
Tumour characteristic % % OR 95% CI % OR 95% CI % OR 95% CI % OR 95% CI
Stage b
 I 53 44 1.0 ref 48 1.0 ref 68 1.0 ref 55 1.0 ref
 II 38 43 1.5 1.4–1.6† 44 1.4 1.3–1.4† 28 0.6 0.6–0.7† 39 0.8 0.8–0.9†
 III/IV 9 13 2.1 1.9–2.2† 8 1.2 1.1–1.3† 4 0.4 0.3–0.5† 6 0.6 0.4–0.7†
 
Tumour size (cm) b
 <2.0 61 48 1.0 ref 56 1.0 ref 65 1.0 ref 58 1.0 ref
 2.0–4.9 34 39 1.6 1.6–1.7† 36 1.3 1.2–1.4† 30 0.9 0.8–1.0† 36 0.9 0.8–1.0
 ⩾5.0 6 13 3.5 3.3–3.8† 8 1.7 1.5–1.9† 5 1.0 0.8–1.2 7 0.9 0.7–1.1
 
Lymph node status b
 Negative 67 65 1.0 ref 62 1.0 ref 90 1.0 ref 72 1.0 ref
 Positive 33 36 1.2 1.1–1.2† 38 1.3 1.2–1.3† 10 0.2 0.2–0.3† 28 0.7 0.6–0.8†
 
ER c
 ER+ 78 92 1.0 ref 92 1.0 ref 96 1.0 ref 57 1.0 ref
 ER− 22 8 0.3 0.2–0.3† 8 0.3 0.3–0.4† 5 0.2 0.2–0.3† 43 2.1 1.8–2.4†
 
PR c
 PR+ 67 75 1.0 ref 78 1.0 ref 83 1.0 ref 49 1.0 ref
 PR− 33 25 1.1 1.1–1.2† 22 0.9 0.8–0.9† 17 0.8 0.7–0.8† 51 1.3 1.2–1.5†
 
ER/PR c
 ER+/PR+ 65 73 1.0 ref 77 1.0 ref 82 1.0 ref 44 1.0 ref
 ER+/PR− 13 20 1.3 1.2–1.3† 15 1.0 0.9–1.0 13 0.8 0.7–0.9† 13 1.5 1.3–1.8†
 ER-/PR+ 2 2 0.7 0.6–0.8† 2 0.7 0.6–0.8† 1 0.3 0.2–0.5† 6 2.8 2.2–3.5†
 ER−/PR− 19 6 0.3 0.2–0.3† 6 0.3 0.2–0.3† 4 0.2 0.1–0.2† 37 2.8 2.5–3.1†
 
Grade d
 1 18 23 1.0 ref 19 1.0 ref 58 1.0 ref 6 1.0 ref
 2 44 53 0.9 0.8–0.9† 53 1.1 1.1–1.2† 35 0.3 0.2–0.3† 35 2.3 1.7–3.1†
 3 36 21 0.5 0.4–0.5† 26 0.8 0.7–0.9† 6 0.1 0.1–0.1† 50 3.3 2.5–4.5†
 4 2 3 1.1 0.9–1.3 2 1.2 1.0–1.5 1 0.1 0.04–0.2† 9 9.9 7.0–14.1†
  Inflammatory (n=1387)
Tubular (n=1597)
Medullary (n=871)
Papillary (n=527)
  % OR 95% CI % OR 95% CI % OR 95% CI % OR 95% CI
Stage b
 I 0.1 N/Ae   92 1.0 ref 40 1.0 ref 57 1.0 ref
 II 0.4     8 0.1 0.1–0.2† 56 1.5 1.3–1.7† 35 0.9 0.7–1.1
 III/IV 99     1 0.1 0.03–0.1† 5 0.5 0.3–0.6† 8 0.9 0.6–1.2
 
Tumour size, cm b
 <2.0 2 N/Ae   95 1.0 ref 42 1.0 ref 57 1.0 ref
 2.0–4.9 9     4 0.1 0.1–0.1† 53 1.6 1.4–1.8† 33 1.1 0.9–1.3
 ⩾5.0 89     1 0.1 0.1–0.2† 6 0.8 0.6–1.1 10 1.9 1.4–2.5†
 
Lymph node status b
 Negative 9 1.0 ref 93 1.0 ref 71 1.0 ref 78 1.0 ref
 Positive 91 19.3 15.2–24.6† 7 0.2 0.1–0.2† 29 0.7 0.6–0.8† 22 0.6 0.5–0.7†
 
ER c
 ER+ 57 1.0 ref 95 1.0 ref 27 1.0 ref 88 1.0 ref
 ER− 43 1.4 1.2–1.7† 5 0.2 0.2–0.3† 73 4.4 3.6–5.3† 12 0.8 0.6–1.1
 
PR c
 PR+ 47 1.0 ref 81 1.0 ref 22 1.0 ref 82 1.0 ref
 PR− 53 1.2 1.0–1.4† 19 1.0 0.8–1.1 78 2.6 2.1–3.2† 18 0.5 0.4–0.7†
 
ER/PR c
 ER+/PR+ 42 1.0 ref 79 1.0 ref 17 1.0 ref 80 1.0 ref
 ER+/PR− 15 1.3 1.1–1.6† 16 1.1 0.9–1.2 10 2.8 2.2–3.7† 8 0.5 0.3–0.6†
 ER−/PR+ 5 2.0 1.5–2.7† 2 0.7 0.5–1.1 4 5.5 3.8–7.9† 2 0.5 0.3–1.1
 ER−/PR− 38 1.7 1.5–1.9† 3 0.2 0.1–0.2† 68 11.6 9.6–13.9† 10 0.4 0.3–0.6†
 
Grade d
 1 2 1.0 ref 86 N/Ae   0 N/Ae   40 1.0 ref
 2 24 1.6 1.0–2.4† 13     11     42 0.4 0.3–0.5†
 3 68 2.4 1.6–3.6† 1     78     17 0.2 0.1–0.3†
 4 67 3.0 1.9–4.8† 0     11     2 0.4 0.2–0.8†

OR=odds ratio, CI=confidence interval, ER=oestrogen receptor, PR=progesterone receptor, N/A=not applicable.

†

P<0.05.

a

The reference histologic type for all analyses was ductal carcinoma.

b

ORs are adjusted for age and year at diagnosis, cancer registry, race/ethnicity, and ER/PR status. Data on tumour size missing for 710 ductal, 130 lobular, 34 ductal/lobular, 10 mucinous, eight comedo, one tubular, three medullary, 94 inflammatory, and three papillary carcinomas. Data on lymph node status missing for 8051 ductal, 1001 lobular, 565 ductal/lobular, 464 mucinous, 136 comedo, 336 tubular, 43 medullary, 587 inflammatory, and 99 papillary carcinomas.

c

ORs are adjusted for age and year at diagnosis, cancer registry, race/ethnicity, and stage. In addition, ORs for ER status are adjusted for PR status, and ORs for PR status are adjusted for ER status.

d

ORs are adjusted for age and year at diagnosis, cancer registry, race/ethnicity, stage, and ER/PR status. Data on grade missing for 5732 ductal, 4149 lobular, 984 ductal/lobular, 981 mucinous, 367 comedo, 270 tubular, 321 medullary, 223 inflammatory, and 140 papillary carcinomas.

e

These ORs were not calculated because almost all inflammatory carcinomas are stage III or IV and >5.0 cm in size, almost all tubular carcinomas are well differentiated, and almost all medullary carcinomas are poorly differentiated.