SUMMARY:

Although there seems to be a common stem cell for the two epithelial cell types in the breast, the vast majority of breast cancers exhibit a luminal phenotype. Pure myoepithelial carcinomas are rare. We report our findings of genetic alterations in these tumors. We have analyzed 10 cases of pure myoepithelial cell carcinomas using laser capture microdissection and comparative genomic hybridization. The mean number of changes was 2.1 (range 0-4), compared with a mean of 8.6 (range 3.6-13.8) in unselected ductal carcinomas. Common alterations included loss at 16q (3/10 cases), 17p (3/10), 11q (2/10), and 16p (2/10), regions also commonly deleted in ductal carcinomas. The single case in which both pure myoepithelial carcinoma and invasive ductal carcinoma was present showed 2 alterations in the myoepithelial tumor (losses at 17p and 17q), whereas the invasive ductal component showed 15 alterations (5 gains and 9 losses), including loss at 17p. The sharing of 17p loss in myoepithelial and ductal carcinoma is consistent with a common stem cell model in the breast. The relatively few genetic alterations in otherwise aggressive neoplasms suggests that myoepithelial tumors may be a good model for the delineation of genes important in breast tumorigenesis.