Does Hormonal Therapy Have a Therapeutic Role in Metastatic Primary Small Cell Neuroendocrine Breast Carcinoma? Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

Primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of breast (NECB) is a very rare tumor; the World Health Organization(WHO) subcategorized these tumors into 3 major histologic subtypes: solid, small cell carcinoma (SMCC), and large cell NE carcinoma. The SMCC subtype is the least common and most aggressive and has been reported to be as aggressive as its pulmonary counterpart. SMCC is usually confirmed based on clinical, pathologic,and imaging studies. Local disease is usually managed in a fashion similar to that of the usual ductal breast cancer; in the metastatic SMCC setting, regimens that are implemented in small cell lung cancer are usually attempted, according to case reports and published small case series. Hormone receptors can be expressed in more than 90% of the solid tumor subtype; however its expression is manifested in about 50% of cases of SMCC. Although hormonal therapy can be used successfully to treat the usual metastatic ductal breast cancer,its utility in metastatic SMCC has not been reported. We report an impressive response to hormonal therapy in a patient with late relapse of breast carcinoma with a metastatic SMCC subtype that expressed hormone receptors. The response to hormonal therapy was sustained for about 12 months. The response to hormonal therapy is definitely an interesting finding that, to our knowledge, has not been described before in the setting of metastatic SMCC. We suggest considering adding hormonal therapy to the treatment pipeline for primary SMCC of the breast that express hormone receptors.