Rapid progression of carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases on 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography

Cancer in the dermis of the breast has a poor prognosis. The breast dermis can become malignantly involved primarily in inflammatory breast cancer, through the direct extension of locally advanced breast cancer, or metastatically from an underlying breast mass or a distant primary malignancy (e.g.,...

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Main Authors: Colin Raymond Young, Mallini Harigopal, Darko Pucar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd. 2020-01-01
Series:World Journal of Nuclear Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.4103/wjnm.WJNM_37_19
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author Colin Raymond Young
Mallini Harigopal
Darko Pucar
author_facet Colin Raymond Young
Mallini Harigopal
Darko Pucar
author_sort Colin Raymond Young
collection DOAJ
description Cancer in the dermis of the breast has a poor prognosis. The breast dermis can become malignantly involved primarily in inflammatory breast cancer, through the direct extension of locally advanced breast cancer, or metastatically from an underlying breast mass or a distant primary malignancy (e.g., gastric adenocarcinoma). Breast dermal metastases have the shortest median survival among them. Breast dermal metastases are classified into eight clinicohistopathologic groups, one of which is carcinoma en cuirasse. We present a case of a 52-year-old female with a history of invasive ductal carcinoma, Stage IIIC (pT2N3a), treated with lumpectomy, axillary node dissection, and chemoradiation therapy that recurred as carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases. Through 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography (18F-FDG PET-CT) and clinical images, the case illustrates the rapid progression and devastating consequences of carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases over a 4-month period despite optimal therapy. Furthermore, the case emphasizes the sensitivity of 18F-FDG PET-CT to detect pathology in the breast dermis. Finally, the case highlights the crucial role that nuclear medicine physicians play in helping clinical colleagues differentiate between the various breast dermal malignant manifestations and benign mastitis, a common confounder in postradiation patients.
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spelling doaj-art-91eef10a4a9f45a89796cec6b4e9a0312025-08-20T02:54:42ZengThieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.World Journal of Nuclear Medicine1450-11471607-33122020-01-011901656810.4103/wjnm.WJNM_37_19Rapid progression of carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases on 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomographyColin Raymond Young0Mallini Harigopal1Darko Pucar2Department of Radiology, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, USADepartment of Pathology, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, USADepartment of Radiology, Yale New Haven Hospital, New Haven, CT, USACancer in the dermis of the breast has a poor prognosis. The breast dermis can become malignantly involved primarily in inflammatory breast cancer, through the direct extension of locally advanced breast cancer, or metastatically from an underlying breast mass or a distant primary malignancy (e.g., gastric adenocarcinoma). Breast dermal metastases have the shortest median survival among them. Breast dermal metastases are classified into eight clinicohistopathologic groups, one of which is carcinoma en cuirasse. We present a case of a 52-year-old female with a history of invasive ductal carcinoma, Stage IIIC (pT2N3a), treated with lumpectomy, axillary node dissection, and chemoradiation therapy that recurred as carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases. Through 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography (18F-FDG PET-CT) and clinical images, the case illustrates the rapid progression and devastating consequences of carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases over a 4-month period despite optimal therapy. Furthermore, the case emphasizes the sensitivity of 18F-FDG PET-CT to detect pathology in the breast dermis. Finally, the case highlights the crucial role that nuclear medicine physicians play in helping clinical colleagues differentiate between the various breast dermal malignant manifestations and benign mastitis, a common confounder in postradiation patients.http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.4103/wjnm.WJNM_37_19 18f-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomographybreast dermal metastasescarcinoma en cuirasseinflammatory breast cancerlocally advanced breast cancer
spellingShingle Colin Raymond Young
Mallini Harigopal
Darko Pucar
Rapid progression of carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases on 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography
World Journal of Nuclear Medicine
18f-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography
breast dermal metastases
carcinoma en cuirasse
inflammatory breast cancer
locally advanced breast cancer
title Rapid progression of carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases on 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography
title_full Rapid progression of carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases on 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography
title_fullStr Rapid progression of carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases on 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography
title_full_unstemmed Rapid progression of carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases on 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography
title_short Rapid progression of carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases on 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography
title_sort rapid progression of carcinoma en cuirasse breast dermal metastases on 18f fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography computed tomography
topic 18f-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography–computed tomography
breast dermal metastases
carcinoma en cuirasse
inflammatory breast cancer
locally advanced breast cancer
url http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.4103/wjnm.WJNM_37_19
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AT malliniharigopal rapidprogressionofcarcinomaencuirassebreastdermalmetastaseson18ffludeoxyglucosepositronemissiontomographycomputedtomography
AT darkopucar rapidprogressionofcarcinomaencuirassebreastdermalmetastaseson18ffludeoxyglucosepositronemissiontomographycomputedtomography