title: Neuroendocrine lung cancer presenting as a breast lump.
abstract: We report the case of a 54-year-old woman presenting to our attention for a palpable breast lump. The mammographic examination showed multiple round/oval areas of increased opacity spread on both breasts. The ultrasonographic examination showed multiple hypo-anechoic nodularities without retro-tumor acoustic shadowing. The mammo/ultrasonographic findings were worthy of histological analysis, thus we performed a ultrasound (US)-guided core-biopsy, obtaining a histological diagnosis of neuroendocrine carcinoma, probably originating from the lungs. The subsequent whole body CT scan, performed to search the primary neoplasm, put in evidence a neoplasm in the left lung, involving the pulmonary hilum, and infiltrating the bronchial branches. Moreover, there were multiple secondary lesions involving adrenal glands, brain and bowel. A review of the literature confirmed that breast lumps may be the first manifestation of a metastatic disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Policlinico Umberto I, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ballesio
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Di Pastena
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ravazzolo
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lodise
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Angeletti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Miscusi
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*; D018278:Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / Q000556:secondary*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged