We report a rare case of breast hemangioma found in a 70-year-old Japanese female. Before seeking medical attention, the patient noticed a hard mass in her right breast but denied associated symptoms. A mammography revealed a well-circumscribed, highly dense, lobular nodule located in the middle inter portion of the right breast. To verify this finding, we used ultrasonography which revealed an irregular, iso-echoic nodule measuring 10 mm in the same portion. Based on these findings, we suspected a malignancy and performed a core needle biopsy. Unexpectedly, a histological examination of the biopsy displayed normal vasculature, adipose, and mammary tissues. In order to make an accurate diagnosis, the mass was surgically excised under general anesthesia and sent to pathology. Pathological findings of the mass were positive for breast hemangioma, and the patient has had no recurrence of the disease for the past 24 months.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1477-7819-12-313) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Background: Subareolar breast abscess (SBA) is a rare infectious disease of the breast in male patients.

L-type amino acid transporter 1 (LAT1), also referred to as SLC7A5, is believed to regulate tumor metabolism and be associated with tumor proliferation. In invasive breast cancer, we clinicopathologically investigated the utility of LAT1 expression. LAT1 expression was evaluated via immunohistochemistry analyses in 250 breast cancer patients undergoing long-term follow-up. We assessed the relationships between LAT1 expression and patient outcomes and clinicopathological factors. Breast cancer-specific survival stratified by LAT1 expression was assessed. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive patients with metastasis received trastuzumab therapy. The density of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) was evaluated according to the International Working Group guidelines. In the current study, high LAT1 expression was significantly correlated with estrogen receptor (ER) negativity, progesterone receptor negativity, high histological grade, increased TILs, and programmed death ligand 1 positivity. Among the ER-positive and HER2-negative patients, high LAT1 was an independent indicator of poor outcomes (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.97; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.16–7.62; p = 0.023). Moreover, high LAT1 expression was an independent poor prognostic factor in luminal B-like breast cancer with aggressive features (HR = 3.39; 95% CI 1.35–8.52; p = 0.0094). In conclusion, high LAT1 expression could be used to identify a subgroup of invasive breast cancer characterized by aggressive behavior and high tumor immunoreaction. Our findings suggest that LAT1 might be a candidate therapeutic target for breast cancer patients, particularly those with luminal B-like type breast cancer.

Clinical response predictions through image examinations after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for breast cancer is important. The present study aimed to evaluate the utility of a novel imaging modality, positron-emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI), in predicting the pathological complete response (pCR) to NAC in patients with early breast cancer. A total of 74 patients underwent PET/MRI, mammography (MG), including tomosynthesis, and ultrasound (US) after NAC. The complete response was predicted using each modality and these outcomes were compared accordingly. In terms of PET/MRI, complete response (CR) was defined as the disappearance of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake and the absence of enhanced lesions with contrast enhanced MRI. In MG and US, undetectable lesions were considered as CR. The background and tumor characteristics of patients were also analyzed between the pCR and non-pCR cases. Overall, 18 (24.3%) of the 74 patients achieved pCR. The overall sensitivity and specificity of PET/MRI were 72.2 and 78.6%, respectively. Both the sensitivity in hormone receptor (HR)-positive cases and the specificity in HR-negative cases were 100%. HR-negative and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive cases demonstrated a significant association with pCR compared with HR-positive cases and triple negative cases (P=0.017). Furthermore, patients with ‘mass’ type lesions evaluated by MRI before NAC experienced pCR with a higher frequency than those with ‘non-mass’ type lesions. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P=0.018). In conclusion, PET/MRI is a different diagnostic approach that utilizes a multi-modality system. It demonstrates reasonable diagnostic accuracies of the responses of NAC with reference to hormonal subtypes in breast cancer.