Breast Cancer Recurrence Presenting as Solitary Intraparotid Nodal Metastasis Detected by 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose Positron Emission Tomography: A Very Unusual Occurrence.

Abstract

Primary malignancies of the salivary gland itself are uncommon, while secondary metastatic deposits are further very rare with description of only few case reports in the literature. The most common site of metastatic deposit to parotid gland is from squamous cell malignancies of head and neck, while secondary deposits from primary in infraclavicular location are very rarely described. We herein describe the case of an elderly lady who while on adjuvant endocrine therapy developed metastatic disease with right intraparotid node as the sole site of metastasis detected on FDG PET scan. This type of presentation of recurrence is very uncommon, especially in hormonal receptor-positive cases, with <30 cases described in the literature to the best of our knowledge. This patient underwent metastasectomy followed by palliative the second-line hormonal therapy and achieved long-term survival more than usually seen with other metastatic breast cancers highlighting the importance of metastasectomy in metastatic breast cancer patients on hormonal therapy who develop metachronous oligometastatic disease.