Lung Recurrence of Pure Mucinous Breast Cancer After 20 Years

Pure mucinous breast carcinoma is a rare histologic type of mammary neoplasm, representing 1-4% of all breast cancers. We present the case of a 45-year-old patient presenting with a painless lump on the upper outer quadrant of her right breast of 1 year duration. The mammogram demonstrated a 2.1 cm mass on the upper outer quadrant with irregular margins. Fine-needle aspiration results revealed pure mucinous breast cancer. The patient subsequently underwent a right modified radical mastectomy which included axillary lymph node clearance. All margins and axillar nodes were negative. The follow-up exams showed no signs of relapse or distant metastasis. 20 years after the initial breast cancer diagnosis the patient complained of cough, chest pain and fatigue. Thoracic computed tomography with intravenous contrast revealed a mass with soft tissue density on the left superior pulmonary lobe with 28 x 33 x 24 mm. The pathology of the endobronchial mass showed an adenocarcinoma with an immunohistochemistry profile compatible with breast carcinoma. The patient is presently under systemic chemotherapy treatment.