Breast diseases: a histopathological analysis of 3279 cases at a tertiary care center in Pakistan

To know the frequency of breast diseases in Pakistani females. A retrospective analysis of 3279 breast specimens received over a period of 4 years [1993-1996] at the department of pathology, the Aga Khan University Hospital. Out of a total of 3279 breast specimens, common breast lesions included infiltrating duct carcinoma 37%, followed by fibro adenoma 16.95%, fibrocystic change13.96%, mastitis 6.83% and duct ectasia 5.33%. Majority of the cases of infiltrating duct carcinoma were encountered in the 5th and 6th decades of life. Tumour size was 2 or >2 cms. in 93% of cases and 40% of them showed 3 or >3 positive lymph nodes. Grade I tumours were 11.38%, grade II 59.17% and grade III tumours 29.47%. Correlation of grade with lymph node metastases [3 or >3+ve nodes] showed 15 cases [1.53%] of grade I, 178 cases [18.25%] of grade II and 68[6.97%] cases of grade III tumours. This study shows that in Pakistani females, the most commonly encountered lesion in carcinoma of the breast followed by the benign lesions such as fibro adenoma, fibrocystic disease and others. Breast carcinoma occurs at a younger age group with predominance of high-grade lesions and with frequent lymph node metastasis

Morphological pattern of salivary gland tumours

OBJECTIVE: To delineate the spectrum of salivary gland tumors in our setup. SETTING: The Aga Khan University Medical Centre, Karachi. METHOD: Tumors were analysed considering histological type, age and sex of the patients and anatomic location. The diagnosis of individual tumours was based on the 1991 World Health Organisation Classification. During the span of eight years [1991-1998], 379 cases of salivary gland tumours were diagnosed. Of these, 205 [65.7%] were male and 174 [34.3%] were female. The median age at the time of diagnosis was 35 years. The median age for patients with malignant lesions [44 years] was 12 years older than those with benign tumours [34 years]. Overall, malignant tumours were seen more frequently in males, however benign tumours were distributed equally between the two sexes. The most common site was parotid gland [82.85%]. Only five cases of minor salivary gland tumours were seen. The most frequently diagnosed benign salivary gland neoplasm was pleomorphic adenoma [84.5%], followed by Warthin's tumours [6.18%], Mucoepidermoid carcinoma was the most commonly encountered malignant lesion [56.9%], followed by adenoid cystic carcinoma [19.6%]. Plemorphic adenoma was the most common benign salivary gland tumour and mucoepidermoid carcinoma was the most frequent malignant neoplasm. Parotid gland was the most common site of origin in both benign and malignant tumours. The overall relative frequency of salivary gland tumours in this series correlates with that reported in the international literature