Papillary Carcinoma of the Breast

A series of 61 cases of papillary carcinoma of the breast are considered. They represent the 0.97 percent of 6300 cases of breast cancer observed at the National Cancer Institute of Milan from 1928 to 1964. The histological sections of all cases were reexamined and classified either as pure papillary carcinoma (31 cases) or as papillary carcinoma associated with other forms of carcinoma (30 cases). All cases, but one, underwent radical mastectomy; the 5-year survival was 63 percent, the 10-year survival 52 percent. Considering the two histological forms separately, the 5-year survival for the pure papillary carcinomas was 76 percent, while the mixed type had a 47 percent 5-year survival; this latter rate does not differ from that observed for breast carcinoma of no special type. It appears that breast carcinoma of pure papillary type has a considerably better prognosis than other types of breast carcinoma.