Esophageal metastasis of breast carcinoma

Abstract

Esophageal metastasis from primary breast cancer is an unusual manifestation. We recently treated a patient with dysphagia, whose breast cancer had been treated in the distant past. A 70-year-old woman had been followed regularly in our outpatient clinic for 14 years after her primary breast cancer treatment, with no apparent tumor recurrence. After 2 years absence, she consulted our clinic with progressive dysphagia. Contrast esophagography and endoscopic examination with ultrasonography revealed a protruding submucosal tumor that was histopathologically diagnosed as esophageal metastasis of breast cancer. Radiation therapy involving a total of 60 Gy in combination with aromatase inhibitor was given. The patient's dysphagia was greatly relieved, concomitant with marked improvement of the stenotic lesion on imaging. Since treatment for recurrent breast cancer is generally palliative, systemic (chemo- and/or endocrine-) therapy in combination with radiotherapy is the first-line option for esophageal metastasis of breast cancer.

Breast cancer recurrence in esophagus, stomach, and liver, 15 years following primary surgery: report of a case

“…This pathological characteristic was observed in the present case. Esophageal metastasis from breast cancer is also characterized by late recurrence at an average of approximately 7 years (range 3.5-24 years) after breast resection [11]. In this case, esophageal metastases were found 15 years after the primary surgery for breast cancer.…”

“…In particular, esophageal metastasis occurs extremely rare [6][7][8][9][10][11]. In a previous study of more than 2,000 patients with breast cancer, the incidence of esophageal metastasis was only 0.4 % [12].…”

“…The prognosis of metastatic breast cancer to the esophagus is poor, and it is reasonable to regard the disease as a highly advanced breast cancer. Given that palliation is the generally accepted goal of treatment for recurrent breast carcinoma, systemic chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy is considered to be the first-choice treatment [11].…”

“…Breast cancer metastasis to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract is relatively rare [2][3][4][5]. In particular, metastasis to the esophagus is extremely rare [6][7][8][9][10][11]. A previous observational study involving more than 2000 patients with breast cancer revealed an incidence of esophageal metastasis of only 0.4 % [12].…”

A rare recurrence of bilateral breast cancer in the esophagus coincidentally associated with primary gastric cancer: a case report

“…According to Borst and Ingold, who observed a total of 2,246 patients with breast cancer over 18 years, the incidence of esophageal metastasis was only 0.4% [4]. There are very few case reports of such metastasis [5-19] (Table 1); based on a search of PubMed, only 20 cases have been reported. We found no reports describing a case of gastric metastasis of breast cancer accompanied by gastric cancer or occurring after treatment for bilateral breast cancer.…”