Ductal Breast Carcinoma Metastatic to the Stomach Resembling Primary Linitis Plastica in a Male Patient

Metastasis to the stomach: a systematic review

Background: This study reviews the literature on gastric metastases (GM) in terms of diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes. The goal of this study was to provide clinicians with a reliable and beneficial source to understand gastric metastases arising from various primary tumors and to present the growing literature in an easily accessible form. Methods: Articles published in English language from implementation of MEDLINE and Cochrane databases until May 2022 were considered for the systematic review. Articles other than English language, letters to the editor, posters, and clinical images were excluded. Hematogenous and lymphogenic metastases were included whereas direct tumoral invasion and seeding were excluded. Articles and abstracts were analyzed and last selection was done after cross-referencing and by use of defined eligibility criteria. Results: In total 1,521 publications were identified and 170 articles were finally included totaling 186 patients with GM. The median age of patients was 62 years. Gynecologic cancer was the most common cancer type causing GM (67 patients), followed by lung cancer (33 patients), renal cancer (20 patients), and melanoma (19 patients). One of the main treatment methods performed for metastasis was resection surgery (n=62), sometimes combined with chemotherapy (ChT) or immunotherapy. ChT was the other most used treatment method (n=78). Also, immunotherapy was amongst the most preferred treatment options after surgery and ChT (n=10). Conclusions: As 172 case reports were screened in the systematic review from different journals, heterogeneity was inevitable. Some articles missed important information such as complete follow-up or clinical information. Moreover, since all of the included articles were case reports quality assessment could not be performed. Among 172 case reports reviewed, resection surgery was performed the most and was sometimes combined with ChT and immunotherapy. Further research about what type of treatment has the best outcomes for patients with gastric metastases is needed.

Clinicopathological Features and Prognosis of Gastrointestinal Metastases From Breast Carcinoma: A Clinicopathological Study of 22 Patients

Background. Breast carcinoma is the most common malignancy in women. Gastrointestinal metastasis is rarely found or diagnosed in patients with breast cancer. Methods. Clinicopathological features, treatment options, and prognosis were evaluated retrospectively for 22 patients with gastrointestinal metastases of breast carcinoma in Chinese women. Results. Presenting symptoms were non-specific: anorexia (21/22), epigastric pain (10/22), and vomiting (8/22), and 2 patients (2/22) presented with nonfatal hemorrhage. The first sites of metastases were skeleton (9/22), stomach (7/22), colorectal (7/22), lung (3/22), peritoneal (3/22), and liver (1/22). ER, PR, GATA binding protein 3 (GATA3), gross cystic disease fluid protein-15 (GCDFP-15), and keratin 7 can effectively confirm the diagnosis, especially in the case of keratin 20 negativity. Histology showed mainly ductal breast carcinoma (n = 11) was the predominant source of gastrointestinal metastases in this study, and lobular breast cancer (n = 9) accounted for a considerable proportion. The disease control rate to systemic therapy was 81% (17 of 21 treated patients), and the objective response rate was 10% (2 of 21 treated patients). Median overall survival was 71.5 months (range, 22-226 months), median survival for distant metastases was 23.5 months (range, 2-119 months) and the median survival for the time of gastrointestinal metastases diagnosis was 6 months (range, 2-73 months). Conclusions. Performing the endoscopy with biopsy was crucial for patients with any subtle gastrointestinal symptoms and a history of breast cancer. It is important to distinguish primary gastrointestinal carcinoma from breast metastatic carcinoma in order to select the optimal initial treatment and avoid unnecessary surgery.

Breast cancer metastasizing to the upper gastrointestinal tract (the esophagus and the stomach): A comprehensive review of the literature

Breast cancer can infrequently metastasize to the upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract but the exact incidence is not well established-there is considerable variation between incidence reported from clinical studies and incidence noted in autopsy series. Clinical presentation can be very non-specific and often mimics primary gastrointestinal conditions. Endoscopy alone may not be sufficient to make a diagnosis and misdiagnosis is also common. A high degree of awareness and clinical suspicion is required to establish metastases to the upper GI tract. We undertook a comprehensive review of the available literature on breast cancer metastases to the esophagus and stomach including the clinical symptoms and presentation, endoscopic features, additional diagnostic imaging modalities, treatment and outcomes.

Two Cases of Breast Cancer With Gastric Metastasis

Gastric metastases from breast cancer are difficult to distinguish from primary gastric cancer. We report two cases of gastric metastasis of breast cancer with a review of the literature. In the first case, a 77-year-old woman was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma after upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, which revealed an erosive lesion in the gastric corpus. She was treated with an aromatase inhibitor and a CDK4/6 inhibitor, but five years later, she developed multiple bone metastases and gastric lesions, and she is currently receiving weekly paclitaxel (PTX) and bev. In the second case, a 63-year-old woman underwent total mastectomy and axillary lymphadenectomy [invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC)]. Eleven years after the surgery, the patient complained of pharyngeal tightness, and upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a type 4 gastric tumor in the gastric body and posterior wall. In conclusion, when a patient with ILC or advanced breast cancer presents with gastric symptoms and anemia, it is important to examine and treat the patient based on the possibility of gastric metastasis.

A Rare Metastatic Site of Invasive Lobular Breast Carcinoma: A Case Report

Here, we report a case of a 42-year-old female patient with left lobular breast cancer-gastric metastasis (initially misdiagnosed five years ago as an invasive ductal carcinoma) presenting with dyspepsia, weight loss, and persistent vomiting lasting for four weeks. Upper GI endoscopy revealed evidence of linitis plastica, and histological and immunocytochemical analyses of the biopsy confirmed gastric metastasis secondary to invasive lobular breast carcinoma.

An Uncommon Presentation of a Common Disease: A Review of Gastric Metastasis From Breast Carcinoma

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Despite advances in screening and treatment modalities, distant metastasis still develops. Breast cancer metastasis to the gastrointestinal tract is very rare, therefore, its diagnosis, therapeutic strategies, and prognosis pose a clinical problem for clinicians. We summarize the current knowledge regarding the clinicopathological characteristics and diagnostic strategies for metastatic tumors in the stomach of breast origin.

Widespread Metastasis to the Stomach 10 Years After Primary Breast Cancer: A case report and review of the literature

RATIONALE

Breast cancer is a common malignant tumor. The most common metastatic sites of breast cancer are the bone, brain, liver and lung, and gastrointestinal metastases are rare. Considering that the median time interval from the initial breast cancer diagnosis to stomach metastasis is 77.5 months, gastrointestinal metastases are rarely observed 10 years after primary breast cancer.

PATIENT CONCERNS

Here, we present a 63-year-old female with unusual endoscopy results that revealed scattered polyps and mucosal infiltration throughout the stomach, which were later confirmed to be metastatic lobular carcinoma of the breast that had been surgically removed 10 years earlier.

DIAGNOSIS

The patient was diagnosed with gastric metastases of breast cancer by immunohistochemistry.

INTERVENTIONS

The patient underwent endocrine therapy with palbociclib and tamoxifen.

OUTCOMES

After 1 year of endocrine therapy, the symptoms of upper abdominal discomfort and fatigue were relieved and a new gastroscopy revealed there had been no significant progression of the gastric metastasis. According to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), the patient reached a state of stable disease.

LESSONS

Gastric metastases of breast cancer are rare in the clinical setting. However, considering the possibility of gastric metastases from breast cancer and performing an upper endoscopy are crucial for patients who present with any subtle gastric symptoms and have a past medical history of breast cancer, even if the breast cancer occurred more than 10 years ago.

Differentiating breast carcinoma with signet ring features from gastrointestinal signet ring carcinoma: assessment of immunohistochemical markers

Signet ring morphology is recognized throughout the gastrointestinal tract. However, this pattern may be observed in other primary sites giving rise to diagnostic challenges in the work-up of metastases. Relatively newer immunohistochemical markers have not been evaluated in this context. We assessed expression patterns of several common immunohistochemical markers in tumors with Signet ring morphology to delineate a pragmatic approach to this differential diagnosis. Primary breast and gastrointestinal carcinomas showing Signet ring features were reviewed. Non-mammary and non-gastrointestinal tumors with this morphology were included for comparison. Estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), E-cadherin, CK7, CK20, GCDFP-15, mammaglobin, CDX2, GATA-3, and HepPar-1 immunohistochemistry was performed. Expression patterns were compared between breast and gastrointestinal tumors as well as lobular breast and gastric tumors. Ninety-three cases were identified: 33 breast carcinomas including 13 lobular, 50 gastrointestinal tumors including 23 gastric, and 10 from other sites. ER (sensitivity=81.8%, specificity=100%, positive predictive value (PPV)=100%, negative predictive value (NPV)=89.3%) and GATA-3 (sensitivity=100%, specificity=98%, PPV=96.8%, NPV=100%) expression were associated with breast origin. CK20 (sensitivity=66.7%, specificity=93.3%, PPV=94.1%, NPV=63.6%) and CDX2 (sensitivity=72%, specificity=100%, PPV=100%, NPV=68.9%) demonstrated the strongest discriminatory value for gastrointestinal origin. These markers exhibited similar discriminatory characteristics when comparing lobular and gastric signet ring carcinomas. In a limited trial on metastatic breast and gastric cases, these markers successfully discriminated between breast and gastric primary sites in 15 of 16 cases. ER and GATA-3 are most supportive of mammary origin and constitute an effective panel for distinguishing primary breast from primary gastrointestinal Signet ring tumors when combined with CK20 and CDX2 immunohistochemistry.

Metastatic gastric cancer from breast carcinoma: A report of 78 cases

The metastatic spread of breast carcinoma to the stomach is rare. There are a small number of previous studies that report metastases from the breast to the stomach and these provide limited information regarding this infrequent event. Consequently, the clinicopathological features, clinical outcomes and the optimal treatment for these patients remain to be elucidated. In the present study, 78 cases of gastric metastases from breast cancer, including the current case, were identified from previous studies between 1960 and 2015. The clinicopathological features of primary breast tumors and metastatic gastric lesions, including initial stage, tumor size, hormone receptor status, treatment modalities and overall survival (OS) rate, were analyzed. The patients were all female and the median age at the time of gastric metastasis diagnosis was 59 years old (range, 38–86 years). The majority of the patients initially presented with stage II breast cancer (35.9%) and abdominal pain was the most common symptom of gastric metastases (75.6%). A total of 51/78 patients (65.4%) were identified to have a history of invasive lobular breast carcinoma and the majority of gastric tumors were positive for hormonal receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) negative (estrogen receptor, 94.0%; progesterone receptor, 68.3%; HER-2, 5.9%). Furthermore, in the univariate analysis, multiple organs involved prior to or at the time of gastric metastases were diagnosed and multiple gastric lesions and peritoneal carcinomatosis were significantly correlated with OS. Additionally, salvage hormonal therapy, but not surgery or chemotherapy, significantly extended OS. However, in the multivariate analysis, metastasis prior to stomach involvement was the only independent indicator of poor OS. In conclusion, physicians must be vigilant when patients with breast cancer history present with gastrointestinal symptoms, despite gastric metastasis from breast cancer being rare. An appropriate systemic therapeutic strategy that includes hormonal therapy may be beneficial for this group of patients.

Invasive lobular carcinoma of the male breast - a systematic review with an illustrative case study

Male breast cancer is rare, comprising only 1% of all mammary cancers; invasive ductal carcinoma is by far the commonest subtype in both men and women. Though lobular breast cancer is the second most common subtype seen in women, such cancers are extremely uncommon in men, and this is likely related to the lack of lobular development in the male breast. Thus, due to the rarity of this subtype among breast cancers, compounded by the overall rarity of breast cancer in men, current understanding of the pathogenesis of this disease and its management is largely derived from case series and extrapolation of information from the larger cohort of female patients. This paper provides a systematic review on invasive lobular carcinoma of the male breast in the context of an illustrative case study. A comprehensive analysis of the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Data 1973-2013 leading to an exploration of the pathogenesis, epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnosis, tumor characteristics, and management of lobular breast carcinoma in men is also discussed. Lobular subtype of breast cancer remains an enigmatic elusive disease that needs additional research to unravel its overall pathogenesis and molecular profile to provide insight for improved therapeutic management options.