Case report

Bilateral synchronous breast carcinomas followed by a metastasis to the gallbladder: a case report

Flora Zagouri¹ , Theodoros N Sergentanis¹ , Dimitra Koulocheri¹ , Afroditi Nonni² , Aggeliki Bousiotou³ , Philip Domeyer¹ , Nikolaos V Michalopoulos¹ , Dimitrios Dardamanis¹ , Manousos M Konstadoulakis¹ and George C Zografos¹

¹  Breast Unit, 1st Department of Propaedeutic Surgery, Hippokratio Hospital, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece

²  Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Athens, Greece

³  Department of Pathology, Hippokratio Hospital, Athens, Greece

author email corresponding author email

World Journal of Surgical Oncology 2007, 5:101doi:10.1186/1477-7819-5-101

Published:	11 September 2007

Abstract

Background

Breast cancer is usually associated with metastases to lungs, bones and liver. Breast carcinoma metastasizing to the gallbladder is very rare.

Case presentation

A 59-year-old woman presented with bilateral synchronous breast lesions. A palpable, retroareolar solid lesion of diameter equal to 5 cm was present in the right breast, and a newly developed, non-palpable lesion with microcalcifications (diameter equal to 0.7 cm) was present in the upper outer quadrant of the left breast. Modified radical mastectomy was performed on the right breast and lumpectomy after hook-wire localization was performed on the left breast, combined with lymph node dissection in both sides. The pathological examination revealed invasive lobular carcinoma grade II in the right breast and invasive ductal carcinoma grade I in the left breast. Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, trastuzumab and letrozole were appropriately administered. At her 18-month follow-up, the patient was free of symptoms; the imaging tests (chest CT, abdominal U/S, bone scan), biochemical tests, blood cell count and tumor markers were also normal. At the 20th month after surgery however, the patient developed symptoms of cholecystitis and underwent cholecystectomy. The histopathological examination revealed metastasis of the lobular carcinoma to the gallbladder.

Conclusion

This extremely rare case confirms on a single patient the results of large series having demonstrated the preferential metastasis of lobular breast cancer to the gallbladder. Symptoms of cholecystitis should not be neglected in such patients, as they might indicate metastasis to the gallbladder.