title: Near-complete pathological response with preoperative chemotherapy in a patient with metaplastic breast carcinoma.
abstract: Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) is a rare form of breast cancer comprising less than 1% of all invasive breast carcinomas. There are no clinical studies available for the management of this rare disease and MBC is associated with a poor prognosis. We present a case of a 50-year-old female patient with MBC who showed a favorable response with preoperative chemotherapy. The patient presented with a palpable left breast mass, and diagnostic breast imaging showed a 4.4 cm mass in the left breast, which was biopsied. Pathological review led to a diagnosis of MBC. Staging workup for distant metastasis was negative. She received four cycles of dose-dense AC (doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide), followed by 10 weekly doses of carboplatin (area under the curve=2) and paclitaxel (80 mg/m). The patient underwent partial mastectomy and sentinel lymph node sampling, and pathological review indicated a near-complete pathological response, with few scattered malignant cells at the tumor bed. A current review of the literature on MBC is summarized in this report.
authors.affiliation: Division of Hematology/Oncology, UC Irvine School of Medicine, Orange, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Arya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Amini
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kakkis
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reitherman
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ibarra
authors.forename: Homayoon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sanati
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D012074:Remission Induction / Q000379:methods