Small intestinal perforation due to metastasis of breast carcinoma: report of a case.

A 79-year-old female patient underwent breast-conservation surgery following a diagnosis of right breast cancer in July 2007. In November 2008, the patient presented at our hospital with acute onset of lower abdominal pain. She was diagnosed with panperitonitis due to gastrointestinal perforation, and underwent an emergency operation. At the time of the operation, one site of free perforation was found in the small intestine, and a 2-3-cm nodule was found in the 50-cm anal side from the site of this perforation. Multiple metastases to the para-aortic lymph nodes and mesenteric lymph nodes were also found. The patient recovered without complications and was discharged from the hospital, but 3 months after surgery she succumbed due to multiple liver metastases. It is important to identify metastatic intestinal tumors in patients who have breast cancer.