Gastrointestinal metastatic signet ring cell breast cancer in young females: a case report

Gastric signet ring cell adenocarcinoma metastatic to the breast. Systematic review of the literature, regarding a case

Objectives

To determine the general state of scientific evidence published in the last 20 years on gastric signet ring cell (SRC) adenocarcinoma metastatic to the breast, and present a case.

Material and methods

The case of a patient who attended a high-complexity reference institution in Bogotá for a breast metastasis from a gastric SRC adenocarcinoma is reported. A Systematic Review of the literature was carried out, including cohort studies, reports and case series of patients with gastric SRC adenocarcinoma metastatic to the breast, which will present information on the epidemiology, clinical, radiological and histopathological characteristics, and the treatment and prognostic of this disease.

Results

There were identified 363 references, twenty-six of which met the eligibility criteria. Gastric SRC adenocarcinoma metastatic to the breast predominated in the Asian continent (75.9%). The mean age at presentation was 42.5 years. In 62% (n=18) of cases this condition manifested clinically as a breast mass. From a radiological point of view, the majority of breast lesions presented as one or several nodules with suspicious characteristics (55.2%; n=16). In the biopsy of breast lesions, positivity for cytokeratin 7 and cytokeratin 20 occurred in 41.4% (n=12) and 37.9% (n=11) of cases, respectively. Only nine patients (31%) underwent any type of breast surgery. There is a lack of information on the treatment and prognosis of gastric SRC adenocarcinoma metastatic to the breast.

Conclusions

The frequency of cases of gastric SRC adenocarcinoma metastatic to the breast published in the last 20 years is low. The general practitioner and the gynecologist could be the first medical professionals to face this rare condition, so knowing it and suspecting it is essential, especially if we take into account that the median overall survival of these patients is low.

Unusual Metastasis of Gastric Signet Ring Cell Carcinoma to the Breast: A Case Report of a Young Moroccan Patient

Although gastric cancer is known to be an aggressive tumor that can spread throughout the body, breast metastases are uncommon. This entity is rarely reported in the literature, with an estimated incidence of 0.5 to 1.3%. We report a case of a rare association between a gastric subtype of signet ring cell carcinoma and metastasis to the breast. This uncommon situation is only documented through case reports. Most breast metastases have been detected after diagnosis of primary gastric cancer, during the first year. Several risk factors have been suggested to explain the aggressive behavior of these tumors, which correlates with very poor prognosis and short survival. We report the case of a 22-year-old female patient presenting with widespread metastatic gastric signet ring cell carcinoma with an unusual secondary site in the breast. The diagnosis was confirmed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and radiology, and the patient was treated with palliative chemotherapy in accordance with the decision of the multidisciplinary tumor board.