title: Malignant pleural effusion in breast cancer 12 years after mastectomy that was successfully treated with endocrine therapy.
abstract: Patient: Female, 94Final Diagnosis: Malignant pleural effusionSymptoms: -Medication: -Clinical Procedure: CytologySpecialty: Oncology.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Unusual clinical course.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The most common site of postoperative breast cancer recurrence is bone, followed by local relapse, lung, and liver. The majority of relapses occur within the first 3 years after surgery. Pleural recurrences more than 10 years after surgery are rare.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 94-year-old woman who had undergone modified radical mastectomy for right breast cancer (invasive ductal carcinoma, pT2, pN1, ER+, PgR+) 12 years earlier presented to our hospital with carcinomatous pleuritis and a chief complaint of dyspnea. Endocrine therapy with oral letrozole was started and the pleural effusion had disappeared 3 months later.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Oral endocrine therapy may be effective for the treatment of late recurrence of hormon receptor-positive breast cancer in elderly women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hokushin General Hospital, Nakano, Nagano, Japan.
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shinohara
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Yoshiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujimori
authors.forename: Kiyofumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamagishi
keywords: breast cancer; endocrine therapy; late recurrence; malignant pleural effusion