Metastases to the breast, an uncommon diagnosis: what do radiologists need to know?

Metastatic Ovarian Serous Adenocarcinoma Clinically Presenting as Inflammatory Breast Cancer

Metastatic disease to the breast is a rare event, accounting for 0.5-2% of all breast cancers. Outside of metastases from the contralateral breast, malignant ovarian epithelial tumors are the most common origin of these metastases. Here, we present a very rare case of a high-grade ovarian serous adenocarcinoma presenting clinically as inflammatory breast cancer in a 70-year-old woman.

A Spectrum of Metastases to the Breast: Radiologic-Pathologic Correlation

Metastases to the breast from non-mammary origin are rare. The majority of these lesions appear as secondary manifestations of melanoma and lymphoma, followed by lung carcinomas, gynecological carcinomas, and sarcomas. There has been a steady trend of an increase in diagnosis of intramammary metastases owing to the current advances in imaging technology. Imaging features depend on the type of primary neoplasm and route of dissemination, some of which resemble primary breast cancer and benign breast entities. There are certain imaging features that raise the level of suspicion for metastases in the correct clinical context. However, imaging manifestations of intramammary metastases do not always comply with the known classic patterns. The aim of this review is to clarify these features, emphasizing radiologic-pathologic correlation and a multidisciplinary approach, since most cases are found in patients with advanced disease.

Renal Cell Carcinoma Metastasis to the Breast: A Rare Presentation

Worldwide breast malignancy is the most common cancer in women; however, metastases to the breast from extramammary malignancies are very rare and only a few sporadic cases are reported in the international literature. In this article, the authors report a case of a 73-year-old woman, who underwent nephrectomy for clear cell renal cell carcinoma and 3 years later presented with a breast metastasis from renal cell carcinoma (clear cell type).

<p>Metastasis of Ovarian Cancer to Breast: A Case Report and Review of Imaging Manifestations</p>

Metastasis of ovarian cancer to breast (MOCB) is rare, and the diagnosis is difficult due to the varied imaging manifestations. The objective of this paper is to report a special case of MOCB, review the imaging manifestations of MOCB and attempt to determine the characteristic imaging features that might be helpful in making the diagnosis and providing appropriate systemic therapy. A 40-year-old woman presented with a breast lesion six years after a diagnosis of ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma. Ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations were performed; the final diagnosis was metastasis of ovarian serous cystadenocarcinoma to breast according to the histological examination and immunohistochemical examination after lumpectomy. Herein, we reviewed 41 cases diagnosed with MOCB, which include imaging of the metastatic breast lesion or a detailed description without imaging. In this review, we summarized that MOCB could present with calcifications (especially microcalcifications) on mammography (MM). MOCB presenting as inflammatory breast cancer usually shows swelling and skin thickening on MM and US, and increased fludeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake on positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). These manifestations could be helpful in differentiating malignant tumors from benign ones, but it may still be difficult to distinguish between primary and metastatic tumors. The correct diagnosis of MOCB requires a combination of the clinical history of the primary tumor, careful clinical examination, radiology and anatomic pathological evaluation.