Medial arterial calcification in breast cancer: clinicopathological features and its impact on tumor behavior

作者：Yang, Mu; Zhang, Li; Liu, Fangfang; Jiang, Chengying; Lin, Yang; Feng, Xiaolong; Lv, Feng; Li, Xiaoyan; Zhang, Yiqian; Shen, Beibei; Zhang, Xinmin; Fu, Li; Tong, Zhongsheng^*; Guo, Xiaojing^*

来源：International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Pathology, 2016, 9(3): 3094-3104.

• Breast cancer
• medial arterial calcification
• invasion and metastasis
• proliferation
• tumor microenvironment

Purpose: Medial arterial calcification (MAC) reduces arterial wall compliance, resulting in impaired vasodilation and tissue ischemia. MAC is frequently observed at mammography where it may mimic malignancy. However, its relationship to breast cancer has not yet been investigated. This study is to explore clinicopathological features of breast MAC and its association with breast cancer. Methods: 452 cases of MAC were identified from 2953 mastectomy specimens (15.3%) with invasive carcinomas diagnosed by whole breast examination from January 2011 to January 2012. Silver nitrate staining and immunohistochemistry were performed. Results: The presence and severity of MAC were significantly associated with advanced age and menopausal status. Less frequent lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and lower Ki-67 labelling were identified in cancer with MAC than in control cases (P=0.01; P=0.002). The severity of MAC was negatively associated with Ki-67 labelling (P=0.045) of tumors. A trend was noted that patients in MAC group manifested a better disease free survival (DFS) than that in non-MAC group after 30 months of follow-up. And the inert biological behavior of cancer might be associated with poor tumor microenvironment created by MAC. Conclusions: MAC was identified in a significant portion of mastectomy specimens with breast cancer. Although not a driving factor for patient's prognosis, the accompanying MAC does slow tumor proliferation and reduces LVI, which may offer patients additional window time for clinical interventions that could result in more favorable outcomes. Further exploration of the impact of MAC on breast cancer patients in large scale studies is justified.

• 出版日期2016
• 单位天津医科大学