Assessment of elastosis in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast compared to fibroadenoma among Sudanese patients using conventional histochemical methods

Biotech Histochem. 2012 Feb;87(2):122-5. doi: 10.3109/10520295.2011.565805. Epub 2011 Mar 7.

Abstract

We aimed to identify, using histochemical methods, the degree of elastosis in a malignant breast tumor compared to a benign tumor. Sixty-four tissue blocks were used in this study of which 34 (53.1%) were Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) (cases) and 30 (46.8%) were fibroadenomas (controls). Examination of Verhoeff's stained sections revealed different grades of elastosis in 29 (85.2%) cases compared to seven (23.3%) in controls. These findings indicated that elastosis was a prominent feature of IDC (p < 0.000). IDC was associated with more frequent occurrence of different grades of elastosis and should, therefore, be considered a valuable histological finding. Nevertheless, more advanced technology for quantitative measurements of the staining density is recommended to confirm this variation.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / pathology*
  • Connective Tissue Diseases / epidemiology
  • Connective Tissue Diseases / pathology
  • Elastic Tissue / pathology*
  • Female
  • Fibroadenoma / pathology*
  • Histocytochemistry
  • Humans
  • Sudan / epidemiology