Dermatomyositis: A Presenting Clinical Vignette in a Patient With Breast Cancer

Abstract

Dermatomyositis (DM) is a rare idiopathic inflammatory myopathy, which is associated with malignancy in 15%-30% of cases. Breast cancer, the most frequent malignancy diagnosed in women, can feature uncommon presentations, such as paraneoplastic syndrome including DM. The aim of this case is to promote awareness regarding any adult patient who presents with DM for early detection and treatment of a possible underlying malignancy. Our patient was diagnosed and treated for DM without any improvement, until she presented to our department, and after a comprehensive history and physical exam, an underlying breast cancer was detected. It was metastatic unfortunately, but she improved after treatment with regression of symptoms related to DM.

A Case of Pathological Complete Response and Resolution of Dermatomyositis Following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in HER2-Positive Early Breast Cancer

“…Currently, there are no guidelines or randomized trials for the management of breast cancer complicated by dermatomyositis. The literature is based exclusively on case reports [1,2,4,6,8,[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. The existing reports do not clearly indicate whether an immediate or postponed surgical approach to neoadjuvant therapy is preferable.…”