Not everything is as it seems: a rare form of metastatic breast cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related death among females worldwide. Despite all therapeutic advances, metastatic breast cancer is still associated with a median overall survival of 3 years. Alongside this condition, bladder metastases of solid neoplasms are rarely observed. In this setting, the secondary bladder tumors with an origin in breast cancer occur in 2.5% of cases in some series. The authors report the case of a 68-year-old female with stage IV breast cancer (bone metastasis) treated with anastrozole, who presented with peripheral edema and renal failure with a creatinine clearance of 12.5 mL/min. After hospital admission, the patient was diagnosed with new liver lesions and bladder involvement with bilateral hydronephrosis. She was submitted to bilateral percutaneous nephrostomies with improvement in renal function. There was a high suspicion of primary bladder tumor in this patient who was a previous smoker, with a family history of high-grade bladder carcinoma (her mother). Liver and transurethral biopsies were performed, and histological examination was consistent with breast cancer metastases. The patient started treatment with capecitabine and denosumab, remaining clinically stable after 3 months of treatment. This case report underlines the diagnostic challenges of bladder metastases in a patient with multiple risk factors for bladder cancer and without evident clinical symptoms. Even though this is a rare entity, the close surveillance of metastatic breast cancer is important in order to allow early detection of new metastatic sites and their treatment to preserve the quality of life in these patients.

Adipose Tissue from Lean and Obese Mice Induces a Mesenchymal to Epithelial Transition-Like Effect in Triple Negative Breast Cancers Cells Grown in 3-Dimensional Culture

“…The primary cause of morbidity and death among BC patient is tumor metastasis [9]. The most common sites of BC metastasis include the bone, brain, lungs, and liver [10]; although rare, the tumor can also spread to the extraocular muscle [11] and to the urinogenital regions of the body [12][13][14]. Tumor metastasis is a highly complex and multistep event.…”

Isolated metastasis to the scalp in occult breast cancer: a clinical case

“…В настоящее время методы медицинской визуализации, традиционно применяемые для диагностики РМЖ при ее оккультном варианте, нечувствительны [22].…”

Cutaneous metastasis of occult breast cancer: a case report

“…In the patient described, multiple cutaneous metastases were the early manifestations of OBC with subsequent detection of probable bone metastasis. Imaging techniques currently used for diagnosis of breast cancer (mammography, ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging) are not sensitive for OBC [ 6 ]. Nevertheless, immunohistochemical analysis of nodal or systemic presentations, with the characteristic markers of breast carcinomas, such as CK7, estrogen and progesterone receptors and GATA-3, can determine that the breast is the primary site of cancer [ 7 ].…”