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CASE REPORT
Rare case of metaplastic breast cancer in a man
  1. Heather Katz1,
  2. Hassaan Jafri2,
  3. Thomas Dougherty3,
  4. Yehuda Lebowicz4
  1. 1Department of Oncology, Joan C Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia, USA
  2. 2Department of Internal Medicine, Joan C Edwards School of Medicine at Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia, USA
  3. 3Department of Pathology, St Mary’s Medical Center, Huntington, West Virginia, USA
  4. 4Department of Hematology/Oncology, Edwards Comprehensive Cancer Center, Huntington, West Virginia, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Heather Katz, katzh{at}marshall.edu

Summary

Metaplastic breast cancer (MBC) in men is an extremely rare entity. MBC is typically very aggressive with a poor prognosis. In men, it has only been reported three times in the literature. We report a 47-year-old man who presented with right-sided breast erythema and nipple inversion. Mammogram revealed a 2.4 cm spiculated mass. Initial pathology was inconclusive; however, right-sided simple mastectomy showed invasive metaplastic carcinoma with adenosquamous histology. He received adjuvant chemotherapy with 4 cycles of dose dense Adriamycin and cyclophosphamide followed by 12 weeks of paclitaxel and chest wall radiation. Although oestrogen receptor status was 1%, tamoxifen was not given due to recent diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. Two years after treatment, he is currently living with no signs of recurrence. This case will serve as a useful addition to the current literature discussing successful diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of a man with MBC.

  • oncology
  • breast cancer
  • pathology

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Footnotes

  • Contributors HK participated in the clinical management of the patient in the case report and preparation of the manuscript. HJ participated in the preparation of the manuscript. TD participated in determining the pathological diagnosis of the disease, provided the pathological slides, including immunohistochemical and H&E stains. YL participated in the management of the patient and editing of the manuscript.

  • Funding This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Patient consent Obtained.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.