title: Breast metastasis 56 months before the diagnosis of primary ovarian cancer: a case study.
abstract: 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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To our knowledge, this is the first report of a breast metastasis preceding the diagnosis of primary ovarian cancer by several years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of Graz, A-8036 Graz, Austria. susanne.schneuber@klinkum-graz.at
authors.forename: Susanne E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Schneuber
authors.forename: Heinz S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Scholz
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Regitnig
authors.forename: Edgar
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petru
authors.forename: Raimund
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Winter
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*