Metastatic breast cancer in a transgender female with history of mantle field radiation and free silicone breast injections: case report.

Abstract

In today's world, the concept of gender has been scrutinized and an appreciation for those who experience dysphoria with their birth sex and gender classification is becoming more commonplace. Keeping in mind the patients gender orientation in addition to their birth sex is necessary when assessing health conditions more prevalent in one sex, such as breast cancer. In this report, we present a 51-year-old African American transgender female with history of chemotherapy and mantle-field radiation treatment for sub-clavicular and mediastinal Hodgkin's lymphoma 24 years prior to presentation of a new left neck mass. The enlarged lymph node was removed revealing metastatic salivary adenocarcinoma with features corresponding to metastatic breast carcinoma. Computed tomography (CT) of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis detected metastasis to the pelvis and a few lucent bone lesions in the lumbar spine. Of note, the patient underwent free silicone injections into both breasts to emphasize her desired gender three years after treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma. Based on her history of metastatic disease and history of mantle radiation, it was determined that her previous cancer diagnoses were likely due to metastatic breast cancer that was obscured by silicone injections. Bilateral skin-sparing mastectomy was performed, patient recovered well, and continued with palliative care at follow up. Even though there is significant data regarding the incidence of breast cancer in the separate female and male populations, review of the literature shows minimal information regarding incidence in the transgender population. Our hope is that this report will contribute to the current base of knowledge present in the literature while also bringing attention to the need for further investigation of sex-specific diseases in transgender individuals.