BACKGROUND
Metastasis to the thyroid gland (TM) from primary breast cancer is uncommon and usually presents as thyroid nodules; however, diffuse goiter without thyroid nodules is the first sign of TM in rare cases. Skip metastases (SMs) to the lymph nodes in breast cancer, defined as discontiguous higher-level metastases in the absence of lower levels of contiguous metastases, have been reported in the contralateral cervical area of the primary tumor site in rare cases.
CASE SUMMARY
A 49-year-old previously healthy Chinese woman was diagnosed with right lateral invasive ductal carcinoma and underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment and bilateral mastectomy with axillary lymph node dissection. No malignancy of the left breast or axillary or distant metastases were identified preoperatively. However, enlarged left cervical lymph nodes were detected 36 mo after surgery, and rapidly enlarging thyroid glands without nodules were detected 42 mo after surgery. Fine-needle aspiration cytology was performed on the left cervical lymph nodes and left lobe of the thyroid, which were both revealed to contain metastases from the primary breast cancer. Additionally, the immunostaining profiles changed in the process of metastases. The patient was discharged with the NP (vinorelbine and cisplatin) regimen for subsequent treatment, and stable disease was determined when the curative effect was evaluated.
CONCLUSION
Diffuse goiter may be the first sign of TM, and enlarged lymph nodes in the contralateral cervical area may be SMs of primary breast cancer.
BACKGROUND
Tumor-to-tumor metastasis (TTM) is an uncommon condition. Only a few cases of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) as donor tumor of TTM have been reported in literature, and none of these studies have described RCC metastasizing to synchronous pheochromocytoma (PCC).
CASE SUMMARY
The patient was a 54-year-old woman who presented with recurrent dull abdominal pain for six months, which was further aggravated for one more month. Enhanced computed tomography revealed a tumor mass in the right kidney and another mass in the left retroperitoneum/adrenal gland. Histopathology and immunochemistry of resected specimens confirmed the diagnosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) of the right kidney, and the left retroperitoneum revealed a typical PCC with CCRCC metastasis. Whole exome sequencing revealed the presence of a c.529A>T somatic mutation of the Von Hippel Lindau (
VHL
) gene in the metastasized CCRCC, which was also present in the primary right kidney CCRCC, as confirmed by Sanger sequencing. No
VHL
mutation was detected in the PCC or in normal right kidney tissue. Fluorescence in situ hybridization revealed loss of chromosome 3p in both the primary right kidney CCRCC and CCRCC metastasized to PCC in the left kidney.
CONCLUSION
This is the first case showing metastasis of CCRCC to PCC, thus leading to tumor-to-tumor metastasis.
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