Primary Malignant Melanoma of the Breast in the Axillary Tail of Spence: a Rare Case Report

Abstract

Malignant melanoma is an aggressive tumor of melanocytes. This is a rare occurrence in breast, accounting for less than 0.5% of the total breast tumors. A 42-year-old woman presented with complaints of a lump with ulceration of the overlying skin near the lateral part of the left breast. The differential diagnosis was made as carcinoma left breast or tubercular breast with axillary lymphadenopathy. Core needle biopsy was suggestive of malignant melanoma. She underwent wide local excision with level three axillary lymph node dissection. The final histopathological diagnosis confirmed primary malignant melanoma of breast and ipsilateral axillary lymph node involvement. Primary malignant melanoma of breast in the axillary tail of Spence is a rare entity and can present as axillary mass. It has mimics as a primary breast carcinoma or tuberculosis of breast clinically and morphologically, becomes a diagnostic dilemma to the surgeon and the pathologist.