Obesity obscuring breast cancer: a case report.
There is normally a layer of fat in the breast between the parenchyma of the breast and the skin. This is frequently thin and does not preclude the palpation of a tumor mass which involves the breast parenchyma. In patients suffering from obesity this fat pad becomes much thicker and obscures any underlying masses arising from the breast parenchyma. A case is reported in which a woman who was markedly obese lost a significant amount of weight and presented a bulge which was found to be carcinoma. This situation, in which fat obscures underlying breast lesion, has been observed in a number of patients. Attention is called to the limited value of physical examination of the breast in markedly obese patients. If any suspicion exists or if the patient is a candidate for cancer from a familial standpoint, mammograms are indicated.
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000175:diagnosis; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010173:Palpation