Invasive Carcinoma
The natural history of the progression from dysplasia to invasive carcinoma is usually a decade or more, so there is plenty of time to make a diagnosis and treat conservatively.
Invasive Carcinoma
- Invasive Carcinoma of No Special Type (NST) = majority; hard, gritty, desmoplastic mass → skin/nipple retraction
- Grading (Nottingham): tubule formation + nuclear pleomorphism + mitotic rate → Grade 1–3
- Lobular carcinoma — biallelic CDH1 loss; single-file infiltration; metastasizes to peritoneum, leptomeninges, GI tract, ovary/uterus; germline CDH1 → also ↑ gastric signet-ring risk
- Medullary pattern — associated with BRCA1 (germline or promoter hypermethylation); paradoxically better prognosis; heavy lymphocytic infiltrate
Read this in Exam Prep: Skin Infections, Psoriasis & Pemphigus
What our notes say
- The natural history of the progression from dysplasia to invasive carcinoma is usually a decade or more, so there is plenty of time to make a diagnosis and treat conservatively. (Female system — Past Paper Questions & Answers)
- Invasive carcinoma: once the basement membrane is breached, tumour cells infiltrate the underlying stroma. (General & Systemic Pathology SAQ Paper II — 15 July 2025 (MBPA 3500, MKU Year 3,)
- It lacks the desmoplasia typical of invasive carcinomas. (Breast mcqs — Past Paper Questions & Answers)
- If left alone, DCIS will often progress to become an invasive carcinoma. (Breast mcqs — Past Paper Questions & Answers)
- With proper therapy, the lesion will be removed and not be given a chance to progress to invasive carcinoma. (Female system — Past Paper Questions & Answers)
- Pathogenesis: HPV E6 protein degrades p53 and E7 protein inactivates Rb, disabling key tumour-suppressor checkpoints; this drives progression through cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN I to II to III) to invasive carcinoma, typically at the transformation zone. (Eoy paper 2 gen systemic Patho 2025 — Past Paper Questions & Answers)
Study material on Invasive Carcinoma
- Female & Male Genital Pathology: Ulcers, HPV, Endometriosis, Pre-eclampsia
- Female Reproductive Pathology: HPV, Cancer, PCOS & Pregnancy
- General Pathology Revision: Cell Injury, Inflammation & Adaptation (MBPA 3500 Paper 1)
- Benign Breast Epithelial Lesions: Types, Risk & Pathology
- General & Systemic Pathology SAQ Paper II — 15 July 2025 (MBPA 3500, MKU Year 3, With Answers)
- Skin & Breast Pathology CAT: MKU Year 3 Medicine Exam
- Exam Prep: Skin Infections, Psoriasis & Pemphigus