[Colon metastasis of lobular breast cancer]

Linitis plastica of the colon due to metastases of invasive lobular breast carcinoma

Colon metastases from breast carcinoma are relatively rare and the invasive lobular subtype tends to metastasize more frequently due to its peritoneal dissemination. A 67-year-old female with a lobular subtype breast neoplasm was treated via a surgical resection ten years previously, with subsequent radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy. She is currently in clinical remission. A colonoscopy was performed due to a recent onset cachexia syndrome, which identified diffuse linitis plastica of the colon. Biopsies confirmed that it was secondary to infiltration by cancer cells of invasive lobular breast carcinoma (ILBC). In conclusion, linitis plastica of the colon may be a new presentation of colon metastases from ILBC.

Metastatic lobular carcinoma of the breast masquerading as a primary rectal cancer

Background

Colorectal metastasis of lobular carcinoma of the breast is a diagnostic challenge. It may macroscopically simulate primary colon cancer or inflammatory bowel disease. In some cases, the interval between the primary breast cancer and metastatic colorectal lesions is so long that the critical records for diagnosis including history might be lost or missed.

Case presentation

Reported herein is a case of metastatic lobular carcinoma of the breast masquerading as a primary rectal cancer developed in a 62-year-old Japanese woman. The case initially presented as a circumferential rectal lesion, and information on the patient’s history of breast cancer was not noted. As the result of endoscopic biopsy, diagnosis of poorly differentiated rectal adenocarcinoma was made. The lesion was surgically resected after chemo-radiotherapy. Histopathological examination of the resected specimen with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) stain revealed a single-file arrangement of the tumor cells, reminiscent of lobular carcinoma of the breast. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed an immunophenotype consistent with lobular carcinoma of the breast. Because further review of the patient’s history revealed an occurrence of ‘poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the breast’, which she had experienced 24 years earlier, the final diagnosis of the lesion was made as rectal metastasis from lobular breast carcinoma.

Conclusions

Poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma of the colorectum is rarer than that of the stomach. Linitis plastica-type cancer of the colorectum is also rarer than that of the stomach. A lesson from the present case is that before we conclude a linitis plastica-type cancer of poorly differentiated type as a primary colorectal cancer, it is critical to exclude a possibility of metastatic colorectal cancer.