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Case Reports
. 2022 Dec 26;9(12):e00938.
doi: 10.14309/crj.0000000000000938. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Breast Cancer Metastasis to the Gastrointestinal Tract With Unusual Endoscopic and Histologic Presentations

Alexandra V Kimchy  1 , Mfonsio D Umoren  2 , Jessica J Rosenberg  2 , Charmaine Ilagan  3 , Pichayut Nithagon  3 , Shervin Shafa  2   4 , Joseph J Jennings  2   4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Breast Cancer Metastasis to the Gastrointestinal Tract With Unusual Endoscopic and Histologic Presentations

Alexandra V Kimchy et al. ACG Case Rep J. .

Abstract

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is an infrequent site of breast cancer metastasis, but it often poses a diagnostic challenge when it occurs. The symptoms of GI metastases are often nonspecific, and the endoscopic manifestations are variable, requiring tissue biopsies for histologic examination. We report 2 cases of breast cancer metastasizing to the GI tract: a case of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive invasive ductal carcinoma that metastasized to the stomach, a rare location for this histologic subtype, and another case of invasive lobular cell carcinoma that metastasized to the colon with unusual findings of mucosal pallor and edema on colonoscopy.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Retroflexed view of the gastric cardia showing the 1.5 cm ulcer with surrounding erythema and friable tissue on endoscopy.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
(A) H&E shows gastric mucosa with expansion of the lamina propria by malignant cells (10×). (B) The malignant cells are positive for GATA-3 immunostain, which supports metastasis from the patient's known breast primary carcinoma (10×). (C) The malignant cells are positive for E-cadherin immunostain additionally supporting a ductal phenotype of the metastatic breast carcinoma (10×).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Colonoscopy findings of diffuse edema and pallor of the colonic mucosa extending the entire length of the colon. (A) Transverse colon. (B) Descending colon. (C) Sigmoid colon.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
(A) Colonic mucosa with diffuse atypical cellular infiltrate in the lamina propria (10×). (B) The infiltrating atypical cells in the lamina propria are strongly and diffusely positive for pan-cytokeratin confirming the diagnosis of metastatic mammary lobular carcinoma (10×).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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