Metaplastic Carcinoma of the Breast Containing Three Histological Components: a Case Report

Overview

Journal Front Oncol

Specialty Oncology

Date 2025 Jan 3

PMID 39749029

Authors

Huan Liu

Gang Zhao

Zhimin Fan

Di Wu

Fengjiang Qu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Malignant breast tumors mainly arise from the ductal and lobular epithelium, whereas sarcomas, which originate from the stromal tissues of the breast, account for less than 5% of cases. Mostly, these tumors consist of a single tissue type, rendering malignant breast tumors with three distinct tissue types exceedingly rare. We report a unique case of a malignant breast tumor comprising three tissue types: squamous cell carcinoma (approximately 25%), invasive ductal carcinoma (approximately 5%), and fibrosarcoma (approximately 70%). Given the case's rarity, pre-operative imaging and tumor biopsy failed to yield definitive diagnostic information, we detail the patient's clinical and therapeutic process, providing insights for physicians on clinical diagnosis and treatment.

References

McKinnon E, Xiao P . Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2015; 139(6):819-22. DOI: 10.5858/arpa.2013-0358-RS. View

Thomas A, Douglas E, Reis-Filho J, Gurcan M, Wen H . Metaplastic Breast Cancer: Current Understanding and Future Directions. Clin Breast Cancer. 2023; 23(8):775-783. PMC: 10584986. DOI: 10.1016/j.clbc.2023.04.004. View

Tray N, Taff J, Adams S . Therapeutic landscape of metaplastic breast cancer. Cancer Treat Rev. 2019; 79:101888. DOI: 10.1016/j.ctrv.2019.08.004. View

Budzik M, Patera J, Sobol M, Czerw A, Deptala A, Badowska-Kozakiewicz A . Clinicopathological characteristics of metaplastic breast cancer - analysis of the basic immunohistochemical profile and comparison with other invasive breast cancer types. Breast. 2018; 43:135-141. DOI: 10.1016/j.breast.2018.12.004. View

Reddy T, Rosato R, Li X, Moulder S, Piwnica-Worms H, Chang J . A comprehensive overview of metaplastic breast cancer: clinical features and molecular aberrations. Breast Cancer Res. 2020; 22(1):121. PMC: 7640663. DOI: 10.1186/s13058-020-01353-z. View

McMullen E, Zoumberos N, Kleer C . Metaplastic Breast Carcinoma: Update on Histopathology and Molecular Alterations. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2019; 143(12):1492-1496. DOI: 10.5858/arpa.2019-0396-RA. View

Makki J . Diversity of Breast Carcinoma: Histological Subtypes and Clinical Relevance. Clin Med Insights Pathol. 2016; 8:23-31. PMC: 4689326. DOI: 10.4137/CPath.S31563. View

Li C, Fang H, Lu H . Case Report of a Breast Mass with Three Types of Malignant Tumors-Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, and Breast Sarcoma. Onco Targets Ther. 2021; 14:3193-3197. PMC: 8131091. DOI: 10.2147/OTT.S304145. View

El Zein D, Hughes M, Kumar S, Peng X, Oyasiji T, Jabbour H . Metaplastic Carcinoma of the Breast Is More Aggressive Than Triple-negative Breast Cancer: A Study From a Single Institution and Review of Literature. Clin Breast Cancer. 2017; 17(5):382-391. PMC: 5537027. DOI: 10.1016/j.clbc.2017.04.009. View

10.

Bray F, Laversanne M, Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel R, Soerjomataram I . Global cancer statistics 2022: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2024; 74(3):229-263. DOI: 10.3322/caac.21834. View

11.

Thomas H, Hu B, Boyraz B, Johnson A, Bossuyt V, Spring L . Metaplastic breast cancer: A review. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2023; 182:103924. DOI: 10.1016/j.critrevonc.2023.103924. View

12.

Jenkins S, Kachur M, Rechache K, Wells J, Lipkowitz S . Rare Breast Cancer Subtypes. Curr Oncol Rep. 2021; 23(5):54. PMC: 8204849. DOI: 10.1007/s11912-021-01048-4. View

13.

Papatheodoridi A, Papamattheou E, Marinopoulos S, Ntanasis-Stathopoulos I, Dimitrakakis C, Giannos A . Metaplastic Carcinoma of the Breast: Case Series of a Single Institute and Review of the Literature. Med Sci (Basel). 2023; 11(2). PMC: 10204473. DOI: 10.3390/medsci11020035. View

14.

Narayan P, Kostrzewa C, Zhang Z, OBrien D, Mueller B, Cuaron J . Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast: matched cohort analysis of recurrence and survival. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2023; 199(2):355-361. DOI: 10.1007/s10549-023-06923-1. View

15.

Weigelt B, Kreike B, Reis-Filho J . Metaplastic breast carcinomas are basal-like breast cancers: a genomic profiling analysis. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2008; 117(2):273-80. DOI: 10.1007/s10549-008-0197-9. View

16.

Abada E, Kim S, Dozier K, Fehmi O, Jang H, Fehmi Z . Estrogen receptor status has no prognostic relevance in metaplastic breast carcinoma. Cancer Treat Res Commun. 2022; 33:100630. PMC: 9742347. DOI: 10.1016/j.ctarc.2022.100630. View

17.

Voutsadakis I, Zaman K, Leyvraz S . Breast sarcomas: current and future perspectives. Breast. 2011; 20(3):199-204. DOI: 10.1016/j.breast.2011.02.016. View

18.

Bian T, Lin Q, Wu Z, Cui C, Qi C, Li L . Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast: Imaging and pathological features. Oncol Lett. 2016; 12(5):3975-3980. PMC: 5104216. DOI: 10.3892/ol.2016.5177. View

19.

Han M, Salamat A, Zhu L, Zhang H, Clark B, Dabbs D . Metaplastic breast carcinoma: a clinical-pathologic study of 97 cases with subset analysis of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Mod Pathol. 2019; 32(6):807-816. DOI: 10.1038/s41379-019-0208-x. View

20.

Tadros A, Sevilimedu V, Giri D, Zabor E, Morrow M, Plitas G . Survival Outcomes for Metaplastic Breast Cancer Differ by Histologic Subtype. Ann Surg Oncol. 2021; 28(8):4245-4253. DOI: 10.1245/s10434-020-09430-5. View