Spindle Cell Lesions of the Breast

The workup of spindle cell lesions of the breast requires the judicious use of immunohistochemical stains to arrive at the correct diagnosis, especially on core-needle biopsy. The entities, both benign and malignant, that compose the spindle cell lesions of the breast will be discussed.

Lecture Presenter
Erinn Downs-Kelly, DO, MS
Erinn Downs-Kelly, DO, MS
Medical Director, Anatomic Pathology and Oncology, ARUP Laboratories
Associate Professor of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine

Dr. Downs-Kelly is an associate professor of pathology at the University of Utah School of Medicine. She received her DO from Michigan State University and her MS from Northern Michigan University. Following her residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Downs-Kelly completed a gastrointestinal, hepatic, and pancreaticobiliary pathology fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic and a breast pathology fellowship at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Downs-Kelly is a member of various professional organizations, including the College of American Pathologists, American Society for Clinical Pathology, and the International Society of Breast Pathology. Her research interests include non-obligate precursor lesions of the breast, as well as prognostic and predictive marker testing.

Objectives

After this presentation, participants will be able to:

Describe the histomorphology of benign and malignant spindle cell lesions of the breast.
Discuss the role of immunohistochemistry in this diagnosis.
Develop a diagnostic algorithm for spindle cell lesions of the breast.
Point out the limitations sometimes posed on core-needle biopsy.