clinging DCIS

A type of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) which was underdiagnosed in the past; at the malignant end of a spectrum of ductal changes that begin with benign blunt duct adenosis/columnar cell alteration. It is probably a variant of low-grade micropapillary DCIS.

References in periodicals archive ?

None of these patients had the monomorphous clinging DCIS lesion which is included in the DIN Ib group together with AIDH in the DIN classification.

C-Erb-b2 oncogene expression in intraductal proliferative lesions of the breast

A European classification system of DCIS recognized clinging pattern as another variant of DCIS (4) and by using Azzopardi's criteria recommended a separation between well-differentiated (monomorphic variant with low-grade atypia) and poorly differentiated (pleomorphic variant with high-grade atypia) clinging DCIS. (4) The situation in the United States was, however, different.

Moreover, many pathologists were uncertain about the true neoplastic nature of atypical epithelial cells lining the ducts, particularly in the well-differentiated or monomorphic variant (with mild nuclear atypia) of clinging DCIS (F.

After publication of the first molecular-genetic study6 on the issue of clinging DCIS in 2000, it became clear that both variants of this type of flat lesion represent neoplastic alterations of the breast and share many similarities with other more conventional patterns (types) of DCIS.

Flat ductal intraepithelial neoplasia of the breast: a review of diagnostic criteria, differential diagnoses, molecular-genetic findings, and clinical relevance--it is time to appreciate the Azzopardi concept!