Case Report:Breast metastasis from small cell lung carcinoma

Breast metastases from extramammary neoplasms are very rare. We presented a 66 year-old female with metastasis of small cell lung carcinoma to the breast. She presented with consolidation over the left upper lobe of her lung undetermined after endobronchial or video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) biopsy,and this was treated effectively after antibiotic therapy at initial stage. The left breast lumps were noted 4 months later,and she underwent a modified radical mastectomy under the im-pression of primary breast carcinoma. However,the subsequent chest imaging revealed re-growing mass over the left mediastinum and hilum,and cells with the same morphological and staining features were found from specimens of transbronchial brushing and biopsy. An accurate diagnosis to distinguish a primary breast carcinoma from metastatic one is very important because the therapeutic planning and the outcome between them are different.