Gestational squamous cell carcinoma of the breast: an unusual mammary tumor associated with aggressive clinical course

Primary Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Breast during Pregnancy: A Case Report

Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast (SCCB) is a very rare malignancy of the breast and is generally aggressive. It is even rarer during the gestational period. Only few cases have been reported during pregnancy and lactation (Rokutanda et al., 2000). SCCB seen within the gestational period tends to be very aggressive and has a larger size than other breast carcinomas. Pure SCCB is derived from the epidermis of the breast, nipple, or metaplasia on chronic inflammatory background (Bige et al., 2007), such as complicated breast cyst, dermoid cyst, or abscess. We report a case of SCCB in a 30-year-old primigravida that had an aggressive propensity and fatal outcome.

Primary epidermoid carcinoma of the breast presenting as a breast abscess and sepsis

CONTEXT

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the breast is an extremely rare form of cancer, accounting for approximately 0.04% of all malignant breast tumors. To date, only a limited number of cases of SCC of the breast have been reported, and most of them presented like the usual breast carcinomas.

CASE REPORT

A 39-year-old woman presented with a large breast abscess and signs of sepsis. After surgical debridement of the lesion, histopathological examination of the abscess capsule revealed the presence of SCC of the breast. The definitive treatment for the tumor consisted of modified radical mastectomy with resection of the residual lesion in the right breast.

CONCLUSIONS

This unusual case illustrates how an apparently benign disorder such as a breast abscess might be related to a clinically occult malignancy. A review of the literature on SCC of the breast is presented.