Rectal metastasis from lobular breast carcinoma 15 years after primary diagnosis

Abstract

Lobular breast carcinoma represents 2-20% of infiltrative carcinomas of the breast. The incidence of extrahepatic gastrointestinal (GI) tract metastases observed in necropsy studies varies from 6% to 18% and the most commonly affected organ is the stomach, followed by colon and rectum [1-4]. Reported herein is the case of a 67-year-old woman who was primarily diagnosed and surgically treated for a lobular carcinoma of the breast 15 years ago and is now referred with back pain and right hydronephrosis caused by a metastasis in rectum. Frequently, the absence of specific symptoms of digestive metastases of breast cancer leads to a misdiagnosis of this pathology [5-7]. The treatment will be based on a detailed clinical history and histopathological findings. Metastases from breast cancer in GI tract tumours must be excluded in a patient with previous history of breast carcinoma, as in the case reported herein.