Metastatic Anal Lesion of Primary Lobular Breast Carcinoma- An Insidious, Rare and Subclinical Progression: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Gastrointestinal metastasis from primary breast carcinoma is very uncommon, with less than 1% of breast carcinomas metastasize to the gastrointestinal tract but anorectal involvement is even rarer. These metastatic lesions can lead to diagnostic challenge for clinicians as they can mimic primary colo-rectal cancer due to the lack of diagnostic signs. The increase of patient survival could lead to an unusual late resumption of metastatic disease, often for a long-time occult. Nowadays, an almost completely absent literature is unable to suggest diagnostic pathways capable of predicting this type of disease evolution. We present the case of a 76-year old woman who underwent treatment for an infiltrative lobular carcinoma of the breast who developed metastasis of the anal canal 11- years later. A literature review was performed.