MRI Diagnosis of Needle Tract Tumor Seeding Following Core Biopsy of Mucinous Carcinoma of the Breast

Displacement or seeding of malignant cells into the needle tract following percutaneous biopsy is a known phenomenon, although it does not affect disease recurrence or overall survival of patients with breast cancer. It has, however, been previously hypothesized that needle tract seeding may occasionally progress to clinical tumor recurrence, and there have been case reports of breast cancer recurrence that are likely to be related to needle tract seeding. We are presenting a case of invasive mucinous carcinoma of the breast with associated malignant cell seeding within the biopsy tract, which was diagnosed preoperatively on contrast-enhanced MR imaging. A needle tract can often be visualized on contrast-enhanced MRI post biopsy and these changes may reflect tissue damage and regeneration only. In our case, an unusual nodular enhancement pattern was demonstrated along the biopsy needle tract, which was consistent with the histopathological finding of tumor seeding.