Schwannoma of the Breast: Report of a Case

Abstract

This report describes a rare case of a schwannoma that developed in the left breast of a 45-year-old woman without von Recklinghausen's disease. The patient complained of a mass growing slowly in her breast for more than 4 years. She did not have any pain and denied any discharge from her nipple. A physical examination revealed a 3.1 x 2.3-cm, elastic-soft, smooth, and mobile lump close to the nipple of the left breast. Mammography revealed a circumscribed, oval-shaped, and equal dense nodule without microcalcification. On ultrasonography the lesion was found to be a well-demarcated, hypoechoic mass including a large cystic area, which led to the suspicion of a phyllodes tumor. An excisional biopsy was performed. A microcopic examination revealed a structure with interlacing bundles of numerous elongated spindle-shaped cells with a typical palisading pattern. These findings were compatible with schwannoma. A review of the English literature yielded 21 proven cases of breast schwannoma. In this report, we describe another such case and review those documented in the literature.

A Rare Peripheral Nerve Tumour ‘Schwannoma’ In the Breast: A Case Report.

“…Sonographically more variations have been reported, but the most common one reported is as a solid, hypoechoic, well defined mass with variable posterior acoustic enhancement [2,6] also seen in the present case.…”

“…Their usual locations of development have beenreported to be the head and neck [2,3] . Other common locations reported are extensor surfaces [2] and flexor surfaces [3] of the extremities.…”

“…Their usual locations of development have beenreported to be the head and neck [2,3] . Other common locations reported are extensor surfaces [2] and flexor surfaces [3] of the extremities. However, in the present study multipleSchwannomas are beingreported from two different sites of the same patient one from right female breast which is considered to be the most rare location of Schwannoma [2,3,5,6,8,9] and another from right upper arm considered usually a common sites.…”

“…A benign tumour of Schwann cells of the peripheral nerve sheath called Schwannoma , also called neurilemoma or neurinoma, [1] is mostly found in the head, neck, extensor and flexor surfaces of extrimeties, mediastinum, retroperitoneum and posterior nerve spinal roots [2,3] . But it is rarely found in the breast or stomach [4] .…”

“…Microscopically a classic Schwannoma is an encapsulated neoplasm having two components known as Antoni A and Antoni B in variable proportions. Antoni A tissue is cellular and consists of monomorphic spindle shaped Schwann cells with poorly defined Eosinophilic cytoplasm and pointed Basophilic nuclei set in a variable collagenous stroma [2] . These cells show nuclear palisading and parallel allays of such palisades with intervening Eosinophilic cytoplasmic processes, which are known as Verocaybodies [7] .…”