Solitary fibrous tumor of male breast: A case report and literature review

Abstract

Background: Solitary fibrous tumors (SFT) are uncommon mesenchymal neoplasms which can arise in any anatomical location. Pleural SFTs have been most frequently documented; however, breast SFT is an exceedingly rare entity and seldom present in male breast, with only 8 previously reported cases. Recently, STAT6 immunostaining was considered to be a definitive marker of SFT, however, no case of the male breast SFT showing STAT6 positivity preoperatively has been reported.

Methods and results: We describe a case of breast SFT in a 73-year-old male patient with a 12-month history of a palpable breast mass. The only associated clinical symptom was bilateral gynecomastia. An ultrasound scan examination revealed an oval, well-circumscribed and hypoechoic mass with hypervascularity. A core-needle biopsy was performed, and microscopic examination with immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of SFT. He underwent a complete surgical resection with clear margins, and there were no signs of high cellularity, remarkable mitotic activity, pleomorphism, hemorrhage or necrosis.

Conclusion: A perioperative immunohistochemical evaluation for diffuse and intense nuclear expression of STAT6 was helpful to distinguish SFT from myofibroblastoma. We, herein, describe the first case of SFT in a male breast, confirmed by STAT6 immunostaining positivity. We also conducted a literature review of all previous cases of breast SFTs.