Male breast metastases from nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A case report and literature review

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is known for its high rate of regional lymph node and distant metastasis. However, NPC rarely metastasizes to the breast and, to the best of our knowledge, only four well-documented cases of breast metastasis have previously been reported in the literature, all of which are female. A 49-year-old male was diagnosed with NPC and developed a right breast mass five months later. Breast fine needle aspiration confirmed an abundance of metastatic squamous cells within the thickened tissue. The current study presents the first male case of breast metastases from NPC to broaden the clinical database.

Keywords: breast; male; metastasis; nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Figure 1

(A) Computed tomography (CT) scan of the head and neck showed thickening of the soft tissues of the right wall of the nasopharynx. (B) Histopathological examination of the nasopharynx revealed undifferentiatd squamous cells. (H&E staining; magnification, ×10). (C) CT scan of the chest showed a locally thickened wall of the right chest. (D) Histopathological examination of the right axillary lymph node specimens revealed a number of poorly differentiated metastatic squamous cells. (H&E staining; magnification, ×40)(E) Breast fine needle aspiration revealed metastatic squamous cells.