The spectrum of gastrointestinal metastases of breast carcinoma: I. Stomach

Gastrointestinal Metastases from Breast Cancer, a Diagnostic Dilemma

“…This study reaffirms the fact that despite lobular carcinoma being less common than ductal; it more frequently metastasizes to the GI tract [11,12,20,24]. Interestingly, 5-15% of patients have metastases when they are diagnosed with breast cancer [25].…”

“…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] …”

Breast Cancer Metastasis to the Stomach Resembling Early Gastric Cancer

“…The median interval from diagnosis of breast cancer to the detection of a gastric metastasis has been reported as four to five years (1,3). In South Korea, including the present case, the interval was variable, from 28.3 months to 17 years (5,9-11).…”

“…Instead of isolated local recurrence, disseminated metastatic disease is more common with relapse of the disease, while fewer than ten percent of women present with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. The most commonly associated sites of a distant tumor metastasis are the bone, liver, lung, soft tissue and adrenal glands (1).…”