A rare case of true carcinosarcoma of the breast

Antonello Accurso; Giuseppe Ciancia; Gianni Antonio Della Corte; Paola Reale; Giuseppe Accardo; Carmela Salerno; Daniele Bordoni; Giuseppe Falco; Nicola Rocco

doi:10.1016/j.ijscr.2016.03.004

A rare case of true carcinosarcoma of the breast

Int J Surg Case Rep. 2016:21:125-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2016.03.004. Epub 2016 Mar 10.

Authors

Antonello Accurso¹, Giuseppe Ciancia², Gianni Antonio Della Corte³, Paola Reale³, Giuseppe Accardo³, Carmela Salerno³, Daniele Bordoni⁴, Giuseppe Falco⁵, Nicola Rocco⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Surgery, Breast Unit, AOU "Federico II", Via S.Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy.
² Department of Biomorphological and Functional Sciences, Section of Pathologic Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples "Federico II", Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy.
³ Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples "Federico II", Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy.
⁴ Department of Senology, Asur Marche Area Vasta 1, Santa Maria della Misericordia, Via Comandino 70, Urbino, Italy.
⁵ Breast Surgery Unit, IRCCS-Arcispedale Santa Maria Nuova, Viale Risorgimento 80, 42123 Reggio Emilia, Italy.
⁶ Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples "Federico II", Via S. Pansini 5, 80131 Naples, Italy. Electronic address: nicolarocco2003@gmail.com.

Abstract

Background: True carcinosarcoma of the breast is an extremely rare condition, accounting for 0.08-0.2% of all breast malignancies. The correct definition of this tumor requires both a carcinomatous component and a malignant non-epithelial component of mesenchymal origin, without evidence of a transition zone between the two elements.

Case presentation: We present a case of a 49-year-old woman presenting with a 4cm mass at the level of her left breast upper-outer quadrant with a histologic diagnosis of true carcinosarcoma of the breast.

Discussion: The most appropriate therapeutic regimens for breast carcinosarcoma are still unclear because of the rarity of this condition, but Breast Conserving Treatment (BCT) followed by adjuvant chemotherapy seems to provide a prognosis equalling that of usual Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of the breast.

Keywords: Biphasic metaplastic sarcomatoid carcinoma; Carcinosarcoma; Rare breast tumours.