Abstract
We report a case of small-cell carcinoma of the breast. The patient was a 54-year-old Japanese woman with a left breast mass. Mammography revealed a 1.2-cm microlobulated mass with partially ill-defined borders. Ultrasonography disclosed a hypoechoic mass measuring 1.8 × 1.2 × 1.2 cm with heterogeneous internal echoes and partially ill-defined borders. The shape of the mass was round and taller than it was wide in the orthogonal section to the longest axis of the mass. These imaging findings suggested a malignant tumor. Fine-needle aspiration cytology of the tumor also suggested a ductal carcinoma. Breast-conserving surgery was performed with axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy. A diagnosis of small-cell carcinoma of the breast was made based on the histologic and immunohistochemical findings. This rare breast tumor has been reported to be aggressive and associated with a poor prognosis; however, our patient is currently well and has had no clinical recurrence of the disease after 5 years of follow-up without radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Therefore, the prognosis may be better if the tumor is detected early and there is an absence of lymph node metastasis.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Wade MP, Mills SE, Read M, et al. Small cell neuroendocrine (oat cell) carcinoma of the breast. Cancer 1983;52:121–125.
Francois A, Chatikhine VA, Chevallier B, et al. Neuroendocrine primary small cell carcinoma of the breast. Report of a case and review of the literature. Am J Clin Oncol 1995;18:133–138.
Sebenik M, Nair SG, Hamati HF. Primary small cell anaplastic carcinoma of the breast diagnosed by fine needle aspiration cytology. A case report. Acta Cytol 1998;42:1199–203.
Mariscal A, Balliu E, Diaz R, et al. Primary oat cell carcinoma of the breast: imaging features. Am J Roentgenol 2004;183:1169–1171.
Kitakata H, Yasumoto K, Sudo Y, et al. A case of primary small cell carcinoma of the breast. Breast Cancer 2007;14:414–419.
Samli B, Celik S, Evrensel T, et al. Primary neuroendocrine small cell carcinoma of the breast. Arch Pathol Lab Med 2000;124: 296–298.
Yamasaki T, Shimazaki H, Aida S, 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.
Ajisaka H, Maeda K, Miwa A, et al. Breast cancer with endocrine differentiation: report of two cases showing different histologic patterns. Surg Today 2003;33:909–912.
Jochems L, Tjalma WA. Primary small cell neuroendocrine tumour of the breast. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 2004;115:231–233.
Sridhar P, Matey P, Aluwihare N. Primary carcinoma of breast with small-cell differentiation. Breast 2004;13:149–151.
Stein ME, Gershuny A, Abdach L, et al. Primary small-cell carcinoma of the breast. Clin Oncol 2005;17:201–202.
Adegbola T, Connolly CE, Mortimer 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.
Shin SJ, Delellis RA, Ying L, et al. Small cell carcinoma of the breast. A clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical study of nine patients. Am J Surg Pathol 2000;24:1231–1218.
Ibrahim NB, Briggs JC, Corbishley CM. Extrapulmonary oat cell carcinoma. Cancer 1984;54:1645–1661.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
About this article
Cite this article
Takayama, T., Mizukami, Y., Takemura, A. et al. Primary small-cell carcinoma of the breast: a case report. J Med Ultrasonics 35, 207–210 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-008-0193-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-008-0193-z