title: Rapidly growing complex fibroadenoma with surrounding ductal hyperplasia mimics breast malignancy on serial F-18 FDG PET/CT imaging.
abstract: A 30-year-old woman was referred for an F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT to rule out lymphoma, and was found to have an incidental FDG-avid right breast nodule that grew significantly in size and FDG uptake on a subsequent scan, raising suspicion of a growing breast malignancy. Histologic evaluation showed a complex fibroadenoma with adenosis and surrounding ductal hyperplasia. Although variable F-18 FDG uptake in fibroadenomas has been described, a distinction between simple and complex fibroadenomas has not been made in the PET literature, even though complex fibroadenomas have a higher propensity to develop into malignancies. This case shows that a rapidly growing complex fibroadenoma can mimic a breast malignancy on serial F-18 FDG PET/CT scans, showing significant increase in both size and FDG-avidity on follow-up studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Brandon Regional Health Centre, Brandon, Canada. makisw79@yahoo.com
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Makis
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ciarallo
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hickeson
authors.forename: Vilma
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Derbekyan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D018226:Fibroadenoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D051598:Whole Body Imaging
chemical_list: D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18