title: Alveolar soft part sarcoma metastatic to the breast.
abstract: Metastasis to the breast is uncommon, with an incidence of 0.5-3%. Alveolar soft part sarcoma is rare, accounting for < 1% of malignant soft tissue tumors, which are themselves unusual. Excluding contralateral breast and hematologic malignant disease, the primary lesion in most cases of metastasis to the breast is melanoma, small cell carcinoma of the lung, or ovarian carcinoma, although rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common primary tumor in children. We describe a 26-year-old woman with no history of malignant disease who presented with two masses in the right breast that clinical evaluations and ultrasonography indicated were fibroadenomas. Pathological studies after excisional biopsy, however, indicated alveolar soft part sarcoma. Subsequent computed tomography showed the primary tumor in the anterior left thigh and multiple bilateral lung metastases. Because of the presence of distant metastases, the patient was treated with chemotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, St. Elizabeth's Medical Center of Boston, Tufts University School of Medicine, Massachusetts 02135, USA.
authors.forename: N N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Hanna
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: O'Donnell
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Wolfe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D018234:Sarcoma, Alveolar Soft Part / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary*; D013848:Thigh