IMR Press / EJGO / Volume 38 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.12892/ejgo3749.2017

European Journal of Gynaecological Oncology (EJGO) is published by IMR Press from Volume 40 Issue 1 (2019). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with S.O.G.

Case Report
Right metastatic occult breast cancer two years after surgery of left breast cancer: a case report and review of the literature
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1 Department of Breast, Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
2 Physical Examination Center, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
3 Department of Surgical Oncology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China
Eur. J. Gynaecol. Oncol. 2017, 38(4), 635–637; https://doi.org/10.12892/ejgo3749.2017
Published: 10 August 2017
Abstract

Background: It is important to find the primary site when axillary nodes metastasis is confirmed after surgery of contralateral breast cancer. Case Report: The authors report a rare case of a 38-year-old female with right occult metastatic breast cancer initially presenting right axillary nodal metastases two years after surgery of left breast cancer. Multifocal cancers were found in all the random pathological sections after right mastectomy, but no abnormalities of the right breast were found even after full examination before surgery. Pathological examination revealed similar findings among the right axillary lymph nodes and the right breast cancer and previous left breast cancer. Six months after right mastectomy, multifocal recurrence was detected in the right parasternal. It was conformed that the right breast cancer was a metastasis from the left. Conclusion: Contralateral breast metastasis should be considered even if no lesion is confirmed when contralateral axillary node metastasis was detected post-breast cancer surgery. Combined axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and radiation therapy would be an optimal approach, followed by proper systemic therapy.
Keywords
Breast cancer
Unknown primary neoplasm metastasis
Metachronous neoplasms
Occult cancer
Metastatic cancer
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