Breast amyloidosis: a case report

Abstract

Amyloidosis is an uncommon disorder characterized by extracellular deposition of abnormal proteins. Breast involvement has rarely been reported and can clinically be misdiagnosed as breast cancer. A 60-year-old woman presented with a 3-mm diameter mass in the right breast close to a silicon implant positioned 20 years before. A core biopsy, performed to rule out breast cancer, showed amyloid deposit. Further exams confirmed a systemic amyloid light chain amyloidosis. After few months the mass increased causing breast volume and shape distortion. Since breast cancer may be the cause of amyloid deposits or be hidden by it, the patient underwent a bilateral skin sparing mastectomy and expander and fat grafting breast reconstruction. The resection specimens showed amyloid deposits only, no evidence of cancer. At 2 years follow-up, no breast amyloidosis recurrence was shown. Breast amyloidosis is rare but can occur in a plastic surgeon's practice. It is mandatory to rule out a comitant breast cancer or systemic amyloidosis.

Amyloid Tumor of Breast in Multiple Sclerosis Patient

“…6-10 Even more rarely, there are publications reporting localized amyloid deposition in the breast due to chronic inflammatory diseases such as the case with Sjögren's syndrome published by Fischer and the patient with CREST syndrome presented by Herrero et al 11,12 In addition, localized amyloid deposition in the breast, which has a history of implantation with silicone gel in the bilateral breast 30 years ago and is thought to develop due to chronic inflammation, is also included in the literature. 13 As reported in publications, all cases with amyloid deposition in the breast should be investigated in terms of hematological malignancies, plasma cell dyscrasias, and chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases that may cause systemic amyloid deposition. In this respect, a wide screening such as serum and urine protein electrophoresis and bone marrow biopsy is recommended.…”

Localized primary breast amyloidosis and 1-year changes in imaging: A case report

“…Breast amyloidosis has rarely been reported in the literature; the first report was that of Fernandez and Hernandez in 1973 [2] . Breast amyloidosis can be part of systemic amyloidosis or it may be limited to the breast, which may be a cause of misdiagnosis [3] .…”