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Case Reports
. 2023 Jul 28;15(7):e42597.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.42597. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Lymphoepithelial Carcinoma of the Breast

Mamta Arora  1 , Balaji Balasubramanian  2 , Naemieh Mohammad Kamel Aljasem  3 , Simran Arora  4 , Ravi Arora  5
Affiliations
Case Reports

Lymphoepithelial Carcinoma of the Breast

Mamta Arora et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Lymphoepithelial malignancy is an extremely rare carcinoma of the breast characterized by a confusing histopathological picture resembling medullary carcinomas, lymphoma, etc. It has also been reported in other regions of the body like salivary glands, nasopharyngeal area and sometimes the lung. Due to its rare presence and difficult diagnosis, the treatment is often prolonged and delayed. Here we present a case report of a 56-year-old lady who was eventually diagnosed as lymphoepithelial carcinoma of the breast. Her journey of evaluation and treatment was fraught with pathological nuances and an elimination drill of multiple differentials before concluding this rare diagnosis. Although lymphoepithelial-like carcinoma is a rare entity, multiple cases have been reported in the literature and their review is mandated to further our clinical knowledge about the oncological treatment and expected prognosis of such cases in the future. Our patient underwent a simple mastectomy, followed by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and is completely asymptomatic now. She has been cancer-free for the last seven years so far.

Keywords: frozen section; immunohistochemistry staining; lymphoepithelial carcinoma; pathological diagnosis; primary breast malignancy; simple mastectomy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Ultrasound showed a hypoechoic area with discrete areas of calcifications with a rim of peripheral enhancement. Blue arrow shows the solid component in a non-dependent position suspended in the cyst shown by the red arrow.
Figure 2
Figure 2. The mammogram showed a large opaque shadow in the lower inner quadrant of the breast with the blue arrow showing discrete calcifications.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Lumpectomy specimen shows rounded cells (blue arrow) with lymphocytic predominance (red arrow). Hematoxylin and eosin stain, magnification X400.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Histopathological picture of the lumpectomy specimen showing lymphocytic predominance with rounded cells (red arrows), hematoxylin and eosin stain, magnification X200.
Figure 5
Figure 5. There was a dense inflammatory infiltrate of mature round lymphocytes with occasional plasma cells, histiocytes and eosinophils. Hematoxylin and eosin stain, magnification X100. Features were suggestive of lymphoepithelial-like tumour of the breast.
Figure 6
Figure 6. Immunohistochemistry clinched the diagnosis. Tumour was Cytokeratin positive as shown by the brown staining (red arrow). Magnification X200.
Figure 7
Figure 7. Different aspects of the use of monoclonal antibodies in breast cancers.
mAbs: monoclonal antibodies
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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