Co-existing tubercular axillary lymphadenitis with carcinoma breast can falsely over-stage the disease--case series.
The synchronous occurrence of tuberculosis and carcinoma in breast is unusual. The simultaneous occurrence of both the diseases can complicate the neoplastic disease. The diagnosis and treatment of tuberculosis in a patient with cancer assumes importance as it can prevent high mortality in patients with co-existent disease and thereby create problems in treatment decision. Axillary lymph node enlargement in breast cancer patient is not always caused by metastatic tumour of the breast even in the ipsilateral axillary nodes. We present here six case reports as an example of tuberculous axillary lymphadenitis co-existing with invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. Accurate diagnosis has helped in down-staging carcinoma of the breast and also in identifying curable disease.
Department of Pathology, Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences, Indore, Madhya Pradesh. kavita_munjal@rediffmail.com
Kavita
K
Munjal
Vishal K
VK
Jain
Ashish
A
Agrawal
Prasann K
PK
Bandi
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001365:Axilla / Q000382:microbiology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D014388:Tuberculosis, Lymph Node / Q000150:complications*