title: An atypical presentation of breast cancer metastasis.
abstract: A 78-year-old woman heard a crack in her left mandible while eating a biscuit and reported to her dentist, who urgently referred her to the oral and maxillofacial surgery department. On examination she had a lesion in the body of her left mandible, which had eroded through the lower border and caused a pathological fracture. Her past medical history included a left mastectomy and level II axillary lymph node dissection for a 27 mm grade III invasive ductal carcinoma of the left breast 9 months prior to her mandibular fracture. A transoral incisional biopsy was performed which confirmed the mandibular lesion to be an osteolytic metastasis from the breast. The metastasis was subsequently surgically removed and the remaining mandible repaired with a reconstruction plate followed by postoperative radiotherapy. The patient regained full function of her mandible and is now eating normally. She is being closely followed-up in the oncology outpatient department.
authors.affiliation: East Surrey Hospital, Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Canada Avenue, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 5RH, UK.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Garas
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stacey-Clear
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Whitaker
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Collyer