SARCOMAS OF THE BREAST - WHAT IS THE RELE VANCE OF IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY AND FLOW-CYTOMETRY

Only 0.2-1 % of all mammary malignancies are sarcomas of the breast. T his study includes 4 cases: 2 osteosarcomas, 1 fibrosarcoma, and 1 mal ignant undifferentiated stromal sarcoma. The therapy was mastectomy in 3 cases with dissection of axillary lymph nodes and simple mastectomy in one case. One patient demonstrated local recurrence and died. The remaining 3 patients developed neither metastases nor local recurrence . They are still alive after a follow-up period of between 18 months a nd 17 years. As first-line treatment, wide local excision or simple ma stectomy is recommended. Dissection of the axillary lymphatics, adjuva nt radiotherapy, or chemotherapy have no established value in the trea tment of breast sarcoma. In our 4 cases, flowcytometric analysis does not always agree with the biological properties of the tumour and the clinical behaviour, in contrast to the results obtained in respect of carcinomas.