Objective：To compare the clinicopathologic features and prognosis between tubular carcinoma (TC) and invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the breast. Methods：The clinical data of 41 patients with stage I/II TC and 2 568 patients with stage I/II IDC, treated with breast surgery, from 1996 to 2009, were analyzed retrospectively, and the clinicopathologic features and prognosis between the 2 groups were compared. Results：Compared with IDC, TC was more likely to be detected by mammographic screening (71% vs. 22.9%, P<0.05), and had smaller median size and showed less lymph invasion (8.6% vs. 22.9%, P<0.05). The rate of recurrence in TC and IDC was 7.9% and 25.7% (P<0.05), respectively. The disease-free survival of TC was higher than IDC (P<0.05). Conclusions：TC is associated with more favorable clinicopathologic features and outcome. In addition, the life expectancy of patients with TC is similar to that of normal individuals, and as a consequence, adjuvant systemic chemotherapy may not be justified as routine management for TC.