Two cases of lung metastasectomies from breast cancer over 30 years after initial surgeries

Abstract

We report 2 cases of lung metastasectomies over 30 years after initial surgeries for their breast cancers. Case 1: A 75-year-old woman, who had undergone right mastectomy for breast cancer 31 years previously, showed a solitary pulmonary nodule in segment 6 of the right lung at a routine follow-up CT examination after an operation for aortic dissection. Video-assisted lung metastasectomy was performed and immunohistochemical analysis revealed a metastatic tumor from breast cancer. Case 2: A 72-year-old woman, who had undergone left mastectomy for breast cancer 38 years previously, showed a small pulmonary nodule in segment 1+2 of the left lung at a medical examination. Intraoperatively, multiple nodules on visceral and parietal pleura were detected, and immunohistochemical analysis revealed lung metastases and dissemination from breast cancer. Although the operations for both cases were performed with the suspicion of primary lung cancer based on the imaging diagnosis, both cases were diagnosed as lung metastases from breast cancer after an extremely long period following their initial mastectomies.