GATA-3 staining in primary cutaneous apocrine cribriform carcinoma: usefulness To differentiate it from breast cancer metastasis

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Primary cutaneous apocrine cribriform carcinoma (PCACC) is a rare tumor, clinically appearing as a solitary nodule, mostly involving extremities of females and this lesion usually raise a differential diagnosis with metastatic cribriform carcinomas, especially breast cancer.

DESIGN

To study GATA3 expression in a series of 14 primary cutaneous cribriform carcinomas and to test this immunostaining usefulness to differentiate this tumor from metastatic breast cancer.

RESULTS

No primary cutaneous apocrine cribriform carcinoma express GATA3. Breast cancer metastasis express GATA3 in 100% of our studied cases.

CONCLUSION

Even when GATA3 expression has been reported in many benign and malignant adnexal tumors, mostly the sebaceous, follicular and apocrine ones, as well as in many other neoplasms, GATA3 staining to differentiate PCACC from skin breast cancer metastasis has a high negative predictive value. A positive GATA3 staining in this context should led to rule out PCACC with a high level of confidence.