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REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Breast Cancer
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1438179

New insights into acinic cell carcinoma of the breast: clinicopathology, origin of histology, molecular features, prognosis, and treatment

Provisionally accepted
Yunjie Ge Yunjie Ge 1Xianping Wei Xianping Wei 2Jing-Nan Liu Jing-Nan Liu 3Ping-Li Sun Ping-Li Sun 1*Hongwen Gao Hongwen Gao 1
  • 1 Department of Pathology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
  • 2 Department of Clinical Research, the Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
  • 3 Department of Respiratory Medicine, First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Acinic cell carcinoma (AciCC) of the breast is a rare malignant epithelial neoplasm, with approximately 60 cases reported in the literature. It predominantly affects females and exhibits significant histological heterogeneity. The diagnosis of breast AciCC is primarily based on the presence of eosinophilic and/or basophilic granular cytoplasm and markers of serous acinar differentiation. Despite being considered a low-grade variant of conventional triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), over 25% of patients with breast AciCC have adverse clinical outcomes. Additionally, in early research, microglandular adenosis (MGA) and atypical MGA were considered potential precursors for various breast cancers, including intraductal carcinoma, invasive ductal carcinoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, metaplastic carcinomas, and AciCC. Similarly, some studies have proposed that breast AciCC should be considered a type of carcinoma developing in MGA with acinic cell differentiation rather than a distinct entity. Therefore, the pathogenesis of breast AciCC has not yet been clarified. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, the literature has not summarized the latest prognosis and treatment of breast AciCC. In this review, we synthesized the current literature and the latest developments, aiming at exploring the clinicopathology, histological origin, molecular features, prognosis, and treatment of breast AciCC from a novel perspective.

    Keywords: acinic cell carcinoma1, clinicopathology2, salivary gland-type tumor3, triple-negative breast cancer4, Immunohistochemistry5, molecular genetic6. (Min.5-Max. 8) Article types

    Received: 25 May 2024; Accepted: 12 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Ge, Wei, Liu, Sun and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Ping-Li Sun, Department of Pathology, The Second Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.