Genetic clonal mapping of in situ and invasive ductal carcinoma indicates the field cancerization phenomenon in the breast

Nearly 80% of well-differentiated in situ duct carcinomas (g1 DCIS) have been shown to be multicentric (multilobar) lesions, while most in situ poorly differentiated duct carcinomas (g3 DCIS) were unifocal (unilobar) lesions. Here we present a clonality study of 15 cases of DCIS, all showing multiple foci. Twelve of these cases were associated with an invasive duct carcinoma. Fifteen cases of female breast cancer patients all showing multiple DCIS foci (5 g1 DCIS, 5 g2 DCIS, 5 g3 DCIS) were randomly selected and histologically studied using large histological sections. Care was taken to laser-microdissect DCIS foci that were most distantly located from one another in the same large section, and pertinent cells were genetically studied. Invasive duct carcinoma and ipsilateral lymph node metastases and/or contralateral lesions, whenever present, were additionally microdissected. DNA of neoplastic cells was purified, and the mtDNA D-loop region was sequenced. Genetic distance of different foci from the same case was visualized by phylogenetic analyses using the neighbor-joining method. Patients ranged in age from 36 to 87 years (mean 65.1). All 9 cases of widely spread DCIS were not clonal. Four of 6 cases that showed multiple adjacent foci were clonally related on mtDNA analysis. In the present series, 11/15 DCIS appeared as multiple synchronous primary breast tumors, genetically not related to one another. The present data enhance the view that breast can also show the field cancerization phenomenon, paralleling what has already been proposed in other organs