The spectrum of gastrointestinal metastases of breast carcinoma: II. The colon and rectum

Isolated Colonic Metastasis From Primary Invasive Ductal Breast Carcinoma: Role of Tumor Marker in Early Diagnosis

“…The study found that only 17 patients in the study population had GI tract involvement, with a greater prevalence among patients with lobular carcinoma [2]. Lobular carcinoma is also known to cause linitis plastica type lesions in the colon and stomach [3].…”

“…Patients may be asymptomatic, present with symptoms of bowel obstruction, abdominal mass, anemia, and inflammatory bowel disease or mimic a primary neoplasm [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]. Abdominal symptoms can also occur as a side effect of chemotherapeutic agents and can often obscure necessary detailed work-up.…”

“…Endoscopic findings can be very non-specific. Due to predominant sub-mucosal or serosal involvement, results may not show any mucosal abnormalities [3]. Morphologically it may be difficult to differentiate metastasis from a primary neoplasm versus other benign conditions.…”

Gastrointestinal Metastases from Breast Cancer, a Diagnostic Dilemma

“…Histological studies have found that lobular carcinoma metastasized to the same metastatic sites as ductal carcinoma; however lobular carcinoma frequently metastasized to unusual sites like the gastrointestinal tract, peritoneum, and adnexa [8][9][10][11][12]. In one of the earliest papers on the subject, all of the metastases to the stomach were infiltrating lobular cancer, and other papers had between 75-97% lobular histotype [13][14][15][16] …”

“…In an autopsy study performed on 707 cases of metastatic breast cancer, the stomach was involved in 10% of cases, small intestine in 9%, and large intestine in 8%, with the peritoneum involved in 25% of cases. Overall, the gastrointestinal tract was involved in 16% of cases [6] A non-autopsy study done in 2005 at The Mayo Clinic showed that of 12,000 diagnosed with metastatic disease secondary to breast cancer, 73 (0.6%) were found in either the GI tract or peritoneum: esophagus (8%), stomach (28%), small intestine (19%), and colon and rectum (45%) [7].Histological studies have found that lobular carcinoma metastasized to the same metastatic sites as ductal carcinoma; however lobular carcinoma frequently metastasized to unusual sites like the gastrointestinal tract, peritoneum, and adnexa [8][9][10][11][12]. In one of the earliest papers on the subject, all of the metastases to the stomach were infiltrating lobular cancer, and other papers had between 75-97% lobular histotype [13][14][15][16] …”