Metaplastic Breast Carcinoma with Unusual Presentation: Review of Three Cases.

BACKGROUND: Metaplastic breast carcinoma is an uncommon type of breast cancer that usually appears as a large, fast growing breast lump. CASE REPORT: We report 3 cases of metaplastic breast carcinoma presented at our clinic in 2014. The mean age at diagnosis was 67.3 years. 1 patient presented with a fast growing, large mass detected by herself. However, in the other 2 patients, the nodule was approximately 1.5 cm in size, not fast growing, and was detected on mammography. All 3 patients were treated surgically (2 lumpectomies and 1 mastectomy), with the final pathology of metaplastic carcinoma with chondroid mesenchymal differentiation in 2 cases and metaplastic carcinoma with myoepithelial differentiation in the 3rd case. The patients are still under adjuvant therapy.
CONCLUSIONS: Metaplastic breast carcinoma may present unusually as a non-palpable lump. This entity must be considered in any breast lump.