Breast Metastasis 56 Months before the Diagnosis of Primary Ovarian Cancer: A Case Study

Background: Breast metastasis of ovarian cancer is rare. A patient with a breast tumor which turned out to be a metastasis as the first clinical manifestation of a primary ovarian cancer diagnosed 56 months later is described. Case Report: A 72-year-old patient presented with a palpable mass in the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Anticancer research 2008-09, Vol.28 (5B), p.3047-3050
Main Authors: SCHNEUBER, Susanne E, SCHOLZ, Heinz S, REGITNIG, Peter, PETRU, Edgar, WINTER, Raimund
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Breast Neoplasms - secondary
Breast Neoplasms - surgery
Female
Female genital diseases
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Humans
Medical sciences
Ovarian Neoplasms - diagnosis
Ovarian Neoplasms - pathology
Tumors
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Summary:Background: Breast metastasis of ovarian cancer is rare. A patient with a breast tumor which turned out to be a metastasis as the first clinical manifestation of a primary ovarian cancer diagnosed 56 months later is described. Case Report: A 72-year-old patient presented with a palpable mass in the right breast. Lumpectomy was performed and primary breast cancer was excluded. Histology confirmed a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma. However, further examination showed no evidence of extramammary primary malignancy. Fifty-six months later, a multicystic pelvic lesion with irregular septa was found. Laparotomy showed a tumor of the right adnexa. The final pathology confirmed the diagnosis of a primary serous ovarian carcinoma. The paraffin blocks of both tumors were reevaluated and showed that the cytological atypia and the immunohistochemical profiles [cytokeratin (CK) 5/6, CK 17, gross cystic disease fluid protein (GCDFP)-15 / BRST-2, estrogen- and progesterone receptor, cancer antigen (CA)125, Wilms tumor (WT-1), tumorsuppressor gene p53, MIB-1 (proliferation marker)] were similar in both the breast and the ovarian specimens. Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first report of a breast metastasis preceding the diagnosis of primary ovarian cancer by several years.
ISSN:0250-7005
1791-7530