Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2017 Jul 6;9(7):e1429.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.1429.

Breast Cancer Metastases to the Gastrointestinal Tract Presenting with Anemia and Intra-abdominal Bleed

Idrees Khan  1 , Rehan Malik  2 , Amina Khan  3 , Salman Assad  4 , Mehr Zahid  5 , Muhammad Saad Sohail  6 , Faizan Yasin  7 , Ahmed H Qavi  8
Affiliations
Case Reports

Breast Cancer Metastases to the Gastrointestinal Tract Presenting with Anemia and Intra-abdominal Bleed

Idrees Khan et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Signet ring adenocarcinoma of the breast with synchronous metastasis to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is a rare occurrence, typically presenting with abdominal pain, dyspepsia, or GI bleed. We report a case of metastatic breast cancer presenting with a complaint of anemia. A further diagnostic evaluation revealed generalized lymphadenopathy, nodular thickening of the urinary bladder wall, bone lesions, and enlarged pancreas. Biopsies from the lymph nodes, pancreatic biopsy, and bladder nodule all revealed a signet cell carcinoma. An upper and lower GI endoscopy revealed multiple ulcerated gastric mucosal nodules and polypoid folds in the cecum and proximal ascending colon; the biopsies from these lesions were also positive for signet ring cell adenocarcinoma.

Keywords: anemia; breast cancer; case reports; gastrointestinal bleed; metastasis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD)
EGD showing ulcerated nodular lesions (red arrows).
Figure 2
Figure 2. Colonoscopy
Colonoscopy showing ulcerated polypoid nodules (red arrows).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Gastric metastases originating from occult breast lobular carcinoma: diagnostic and therapeutic problems. Ciulla A, Castronovo G, Tomasello G, Maiorana AM, Russo L, Daniele E, Genova G. World J Surg Oncol. 2008;6:78. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Breast cancer metastasis to the stomach may mimic primary gastric cancer: report of two cases and review of literature. Jones GE, Strauss DC, Forshaw MJ, Deere H, Mahedeva U, Mason RC. World J Surg Oncol. 2007;5:75. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shakoor MT, Ayub S, Mohindra R, Ayub Z, Ahad A. Int J Biomed Sci. Vol. 10. Dec: 2014. Unique presentations of invasive lobular breast cancer: a case series; pp. 287–293. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cytokeratin 8 immunostaining pattern and e-cadherin expression distinguish lobular from ductal breast carcinoma. Lehr HA, Folpe A, Yaziji H, Kommoss F, Gown AM. Am J Clin Pathol. 2015;114:190–196. - PubMed
    1. Infiltrating lobular carcinoma of the breast: tumor characteristics and clinical outcome. Arpino G, Bardou VJ, Clark GM, Elledge RM. Breast Cancer Res. 2004;6:149–156. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources