A malignant phyllodes tumor of the breast in a 6-year old girl

Abstract

We recently encountered a 6-year-old girl with a malignant phyllodes tumor of the breast. The patient’s mother noticed a tumor on the right breast of her first daughter at 8 months after from her birth. The baby was brought to the Second Department of Surgery, University of Tokushima, at age 20 months. We recommended removal of the 3.5 × 2.9 cm tumor in the right breast, but it was not done. Next, she visited our department at 6 years of age because the tumor had gradually enlarged, reaching a size of 4.3 × 4.0 cm. She underwent excisional resection of the tumor, and the tumor was diagnosed as a malignant phyllodes tumor of the breast coexisting with a borderline phyllodes tumor. To our knowledge, this is the youngest reported case of a malignant phyllodes tumor of the breast. Moreover, the malignant lesion was positive for estrogen receptor (ER) and showed strong proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) staining. On the other hand, the borderline part was negative for ER and showed weak PCNA staining. Thus, in the present case, the expression of ER, the exposure to estrogen (for example, the mother’s estrogen during gestation) and increase in the proliferation rate may have played important roles in the mechanism of the transformation of the phyllodes tumor.