BENIGN AND MALIGNANT STELLATE BREAST-LESIONS - STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCESIN 5 MU-M SECTIONS AND THICK TISSUE-SLICES

Complex sclerosing lesions have presented a diagnostic problem since t hey were identified amongst benign breast lesions. Their differentiati on from stellate carcinomas may cause serious difficulties for both ra diologists and pathologists. In the present study the conventional and thick-slice appearances of 15 complex sclerosing lesions and 15 well differentiated and tubular carcinomas were compared, with the main emp hasis on the stellate zone of the lesions. There was a marked morpholo gical difference between the stellate extensions: the majority was for med by epithelial structures in complex sclerosing lesions as opposed to the composition of the extensions of the stellate carcinomas, where fibrovascular tissue dominates. Well differentiated carcinomas origin ating in complex sclerosing lesions showed an intermediate ratio of ep ithelial and fibrous stellate extensions The structural differences ma y explain the radiomorphological differences of benign and malignant s tellate breast lesions. We suggest these structural characteristics ou ght to be included in the pathomorphologic differential diagnostic fea tures.