A 71-year-old woman non-smoker referred for repeated haemoptysis showed a tumoral lesion of the left tonsil. Pathological analysis of the biopsy showed characteristics compatible with a breast carcinoma metastasis, in which oestrogen and progesterone receptors were present. The patient had undergone mastectomy and had received adjuvant radiotherapy 24 years previously for a breast cancer with no complaints or signs of recurrence since. Investigations showed disseminated bone metastases but no other soft-tissue deposits. Anti-oestrogen therapy was applied. Only seven similar cases of tonsillar metastasis from breast cancer have been reported.
Copyright 1999 W.B. Saunders Company Ltd.