OCCULT BREAST CARCINOMA PRESENTED WITH AN AXILLARY LYMPH NODE METASTASIS-REPORT OF A CASE-

Abstract

A 52-year-old woman was reffered to the hospital for investigation of a left axillary mass. A biopsy of the left axillary nodes taken 3 months prior to admission had confirmed the presence of metastasis from epithelial carcinoma; however, preoperative physical findings and radiographic studies revealed no malignant disease anywhere in the body. The patient underwent a modified radical mastectomy for the left breast and the obtained specimen was cut longitudinally at intervals of 5mm. Small lesions, 8mm×5mm and 5mm×3mm in diameter, were detected in the area C, the pathological findings of which were identical to those of the left axillary lymph nodes that had been resected preoperatively. The patient was treated with adjuvant chemotherapy for 14 months and no evidence of recurrence has been found as of 14 months after the operation. This case report serves to demonstrate that the patient with occult breast carcinoma presenting with an axillary mass should undergo the treatment for the ipsilateral breast, such as mastectomy and/or radiation with chemotherapy, due to the high possibility of this lesion being a focus of metastasis.