Abstract
Primary small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast is a rare and aggressive neoplasm without an established treatment protocol because so few cases have been described. We report a case of primary smallcell neuroendocrine carcinoma in a 31-year-old woman. The patient came to our hospital 10 days after consulting another clinic, where a diagnosis of locally advanced breast cancer suitable for neoadjuvant chemotherapy had been made. Core needle biopsy under ultrasonographic guidance revealed invasive carcinoma. The doubling time of the tumor progression was calculated as 12 days based on ultrasonographic measurement. After three cycles of chemotherapeutic regimens consisting of adriamycin plus docetaxel, the disease was judged to be progressive and the patient underwent surgery. Definitive histopathological examination revealed primary small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma. Local and mediastinal recurrence with multiple liver metastases developed only 5 weeks after surgery. Cisplatin plus irinotecan combination chemotherapy was started; however, the patient died of aggressive recurrent tumor progression 6 months after surgery, in spite of the transient tumor regression achieved by chemotherapy. This case reinforces the importance of an early correct diagnosis and the standardization of a treatment regimen for this very rare tumor.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Frazier SR, Kaplan PA, Loy TS. The pathology of extrapulmonary small cell carcinoma. Semin Oncol 2007;34:30–38.
Rosen PP. Rosen’s breast pathology. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2001. p. 503–508.
Mizra IA, Hahab N. Small cell carcinoma of the breast. Semin Oncol 2007;34:64–66.
Wade PM Jr, Mills SE, Read M, Cloud W, Lambert MJ, Smith RE. Small cell neuroendocrine (oat cell) carcinoma of the breast. Cancer 1983;52:121–125.
Jundt G, Schulz A, Heitz PU, Osborn M. Small cell neuroendocrine (oat cell) carcinoma of the male breast. Virchows Arch A Pathol Anat Histopathol 1984;404:213–221.
Papotti M, Gherardi G, Eusebi V, Pagani A, Bussolati G. Primary oat cell (neuroendocrine) carcinoma of the breast. Virchows Arch A Pathol Anat Histopathol 1992;420:103–108.
Francois A, Chatikhine VA, Chevallier B, Ren GS, Berry M, Chevrier A, et al. Neuroendocrine primary small cell carcinoma of the breast. Am J Clin Oncol 1995;18:133–138.
Chua RS, Torno RB, Vuletin JC. Fine needle aspiration cytology of small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast. Acta Cytol 1997;41:1341–1344.
Fukunaga M, Ushigome S. Small cell (oat cell) carcinoma of the breast. Pathol Int 1998;48:744–748.
Yamasaki T, Shimazaki H, Aida S, Tamai S, Tamaki K, Hiraide H, et al. Primary small cell (oat cell) carcinoma of the breast: Report of a case and review of the literature. Pathol Int 2000;50:914–918.
Shin SJ, DeLellis RA, Ying L, Rosen PP. Small cell carcinoma of the breast. A clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical study of nine patients. Am J Surg Pathol 2000;24:1231–1238.
Samli B, Celik S, Evrensel T, Orhan B, Tasdelen I. Primary neuroendocrine small cell carcinoma of the breast. Arch Pathol Lab Med 2000;124:296–298.
Salmo EN, Connolly CE. Primary small cell carcinoma of the breast: report of a case and review of the literature. Histopathology 2001;38:277–278.
Hoang MP, Maitra A, Gazdar AF, Albores-Saavedra J. Primary mammary small-cell carcinoma: a molecular analysis of 2 cases. Hum Pathol 2001;32:753–757.
Bergman S, Hoda SA, Geisinger KR, Creager AJ, Trupiano JK. E-cadherin-negative primary small cell carcinoma of the breast. Am J Clin Pathol 2004;121:117–121.
Sridhar P, Matery P, Aluwihare N. Primary carcinoma of the breast with small-cell differentiation. Breast 2004;13:149–151.
Bigotti G, Butti A, del Vecchio M, Tartaglione R, Massi G. Primary small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast. J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2004;23:691–696.
Jochems L, Tjalma WAA. Primary small cell neuroendocrine tumor of the breast. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 2004;115:231–233.
Yamamoto J, Ohshima K, Nabeshima K, Ikeda S, Iwasaki H, Kikuchi M. Comparative study of primary mammary small cell carcinoma, carcinoma with endocrine features and invasive ductal carcinoma. Oncol Rep 2004;11:825–831.
Adegbola T, Connolly CE, Mortiner G. Small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast: a report of three cases and review of the literature. J Clin Pathol 2005;58:775–778.
Stein ME, Gershuny A, Abdach L, Quigeley MM. Primary small cell carcinoma of the breast. Clin Oncol 2005;17:201–202.
Salman WD, Harrison JAF, Howat AL. Small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast. J Clin Pathol 2006;59:888.
Noda K, Nishiwaki Y, Kawahara M, Negoro S, Sugiura T, Yokogawa A, et al. Irinotecan plus cisplatin compared with etoposide plus cisplatin for extensive small cell lung cancer. N Engl J Med 2002;346:86–91.
Tavassoli FA, Devilee P. World Health Organization classification of tumors. Pathology and genetics of tumors of the breast and female genital organs. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) Press; 2003. p. 32–34.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kinoshita, S., Hirano, A., Komine, K. et al. Primary small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast: Report of a case. Surg Today 38, 734–738 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-007-3716-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-007-3716-0