Characteristics of metastasis in the breast from extramammary malignancies.
OBJECTIVE
Breast metastasis from extramammary neoplasm is rare. We present the cases of metastasis to the breast after review of results in one institute and we want to show the difference of previous report.


METHODS
The surgical and pathology databases of Samsung Medical Center from November 1994 to March 2009 were investigated to identify all patients with a diagnosis of metastasis to the breast.


RESULTS
Thirty-three patients with breast metastases from extramammary neoplasm were studied. Gastric carcinoma was most common metastatic origin in this study. There were four cases with microcalcifications in their metastatic lesions. This is the first report of microcalcification of metastatic lesions to the breast from hepatocellular carcinoma and gastric cancer.


CONCLUSIONS
Pathologic examination and considering known clinical history may be helpful to differentiate the primary breast cancer and metastatic cancer. Metastasis to the breast from an extramammary neoplasm usually indicates disseminated metastatic disease and a poor prognosis. An accurate diagnosis of breast metastases, differentiating primary from metastatic breast carcinoma, is important for proper management.
Lee
Se Kyung
SK
Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul 135-710, South Korea.
Kim
Wan Wook
WW
Kim
Sung Hoon
SH
Hur
Sung Mo
SM
Kim
Sangmin
S
Choi
Jae Hyuck
JH
Cho
Eun Yoon
EY
Han
Soo Yeon
SY
Hahn
Boo-Kyung
BK
Choe
Jun-Ho
JH
Kim
Jung-Han
JH
Kim
Jee Soo
JS
Lee
Jeong Eon
JE
Nam
Seok Jin
SJ
Yang
Jung-Hyun
JH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D018567:Breast Neoplasms, Male / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*