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Case Report
Occult breast cancer presenting as metastatic carcinoma in a right axillary lymph node of a post-menopausal female: A case report and review of literature
1 Department of Surgery, Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria
2 Department of Surgery, College of Health Sciences, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria
3 Department of Anatomic Pathology and Forensic Medicine, Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria
4 Department of Anatomic Pathology and Forensic Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Nile University of Nigeria, Abuja, Nigeria
5 Department of Radiology, Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria
6 Department of Anaesthesiology, Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria
Address correspondence to:
Michael E Aghahowa
Department of Surgery, Asokoro District Hospital, Abuja,
Nigeria
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Article ID: 101311Z01MA2022
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How to cite this article
Aghahowa ME, Ezike KN, Bassey OS, Okwudire-Ejeh IA, Amba AA, Shehu Y. Occult breast cancer presenting as metastatic carcinoma in a right axillary lymph node of a post-menopausal female: A case report and review of literature. Int J Case Rep Images 2022;13:101311Z01MA2022.ABSTRACT
Introduction: Occult breast cancer (OBC) is a clinically recognizable metastatic carcinoma from an undetectable primary breast tumor. It is rare and accounts for 0.3–1% of all breast cancers, often presenting with lymph node, bone, or skin metastases. It poses a diagnostic challenge for general surgeons, radiologists, and pathologists.
Case Report: We present the case of occult breast cancer in a 62-year-old, post-menopausal, female, Nigerian, presenting with a solitary, painless, right axillary lymph node enlargement without a clinical or radiological evidence of a breast mass; and also review the literature. The diagnosis of metastatic breast carcinoma was made and confirmed on histology and immunohistochemistry analysis of the axillary lymph node. Histological examination of the subsequent right breast mastectomy specimen revealed the presence of infiltrating ductal carcinoma even though no definite mass lesion was seen on gross examination.
Conclusion: Occult breast cancer can be a diagnostic challenge and should be excluded in any patient presenting with solitary axillary lymphadenopathy. Immunohistochemistry staining patterns can be a mainstay in resolving the differential diagnoses.
Keywords: Abuja, Breast cancer, Lymph node, Occult
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Author Contributions
Michael E Aghahowa - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Kevin N Ezike - Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Oku S Bassey - Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Ijeoma A Okwudire-Ejeh - Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Amba A Amba - Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Yakubu Shehu - Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Guarantor of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
Copyright© 2022 Michael E Aghahowa et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.
