title: Granular cell tumor in the breast mimicking breast carcinoma.
abstract: Granular cell tumor is also known as a granular cell myoblastoma, Abrikossoff's tumor, granular cell nerve sheath tumor or granular cell scwhannoma. It is a rare soft-tissue mass that can develop in any soft tissue. Most commonly it appears in the tongue (40%), the oral cavity or in the subcutaneous tissue. In rare occasions it is reported as a breast mass, mimicking a carcinoma. Not only clinically, but also on mammography, ultrasonography and macroscopically. Diagnosis can only be made on histology, emphasizing once again the importance of a thorough pre-operative multi-disciplinary assessment. We describe a case in which a woman presents herself with a palpable nodule in the breast in which clinical investigation, mammography and especially sonography indicated the presence of a malignancy. Only after we conducted a core biopsy for pre-operative histological investigation, we could make the diagnosis of a granular cell tumor, preventing an unnecessary mastectomy. The patient refused however local excision and was followed up with mammography and sonography.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Algemeen Stedelijk Ziekenhuis Aalst, Belgium. jef_huyskens@hotmail.com
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Huyskens
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Geniets
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D016586:Granular Cell Tumor / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000379:methods; D016217:Ultrasonography, Mammary / Q000379:methods