Affiliations: [a] Department of Breast Surgery, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore | [b] Department of Anatomical Pathology, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore | [c] Division of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore | [d] Department of Diagnostic Radiology, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore | [e] Division of Surgical Oncology, National Cancer Centre Singapore, Singapore
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Dr Linn Yun Le, Department of Breast Surgery, Singapore General Hospital, 20 College Road, Academia Level 5, Singapore 169856, Singapore. E-mail: yunle.linn@mohh.com.sg; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7119-4178
Abstract: Primary breast carcinomas often present as ill-defined, infiltrative lesions which may contain calcifications, whereas metastatic cancers from non-mammary sites are often more well-circumscribed, sharply demarcated from the adjacent breast tissue and are usually not associated with calcifications, although there are exceptions. We report an atypical case of a lady with lung adenocarcinoma with pleural involvement, who presented with diffuse breast swelling with calcifications on imaging from metastatic lung adenocarcinoma, the first of its kind in the literature. We postulate that the pathophysiology of this was due to lymphatic spread of the tumour from the pleura resulting in retrograde lymphovascular congestion of the breast, resulting in swelling and dystrophic calcification.
Keywords: Breast tumors, lung adenocarcinoma, metastasis, microcalcification, lymph node
DOI: 10.3233/BD-210035
Journal: Breast Disease, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 151-154, 2022
