Micropapillary Breast Carcinoma: from Molecular Pathogenesis to Prognosis

Invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) of the breast is an infrequent type of breast cancer often discussed for its potency for lymphovascular invasion and difficulty in accurate imaging estimation. Micropapillary carcinomas are noted to be present as larger tumors, of higher histological grade and a notably higher percentage of disease-positive lymph nodes. Hormonal and HER-2 positivity in IMPC is also commoner when compared to other NST carcinomas. IMPC occurs either as a pure form or more often as a component of mixed Non-Specific Type (NST) carcinoma. The latest data suggest that despite having comparable survival rates to other histological subtypes of breast carcinoma, effective surgical treatment often requires extended surgical margins and vigilant preoperative axillary staging due to an increased incidence of lymph node invasion, and locoregional recurrence. Moreover, the presence of micropapillary in situ components within tumors also seems to alter tumor aggression and influence the nodal disease stage. In this review, we present an overview of the current literature of micropapillary carcinoma of the breast from biology to prognosis, focusing on biological differences and treatment.