title: Metastases to and from the Breast.
abstract: Breast cancer is a common source of systemic metastatic disease. Distinguishing metastatic breast cancer from other types of malignancies can be diagnostically challenging but is important for correct treatment and prognosis. Nonmammary tumors can also metastasize to the breast, although this is a rare phenomenon. Differentiating a metastasis to the breast from a primary breast cancer can likewise be difficult. Knowledge of the clinical history and careful morphologic evaluation are the cornerstones of diagnosis. A panel of immunohistochemical stains tailored to the differential diagnosis at hand can provide helpful information in ambiguous cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Methodist Division, 2301 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19148, USA.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bombonati
authors.affiliation: James Homer Wright Pathology Laboratories of the Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck street, Boston, MA 02115, USA. Electronic address: mlerwill@partners.org.
authors.forename: Melinda F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Lerwill