Abstract
Carcinoid tumor of the breast is rare and carries good prognosis in most cases, however, there are some death cases due to recurrence of the fulminant type that poses problems in clinical treatment of the disease which have not been resolved as yet. Authors have experienced a patient with the disease who has been alive without recurrence for 9 years. In this paper the authors present a clinical study of the patient together with 26 patients reported in the Japanese literature whose prognoses were clearly reported.
A 63-year-old woman was seen at the hospital because of a palpable, elastic-hard, and well-movable tumor at the left breast. Ultrasonography and MRI visualized a 26×24mm well-defined tumor which was composed of cystic and solid parts concomitantly. Fine needle biopsy cytology offered a diagnosis of breast cancer and breast-conserving surgery was performed. HE staining showed palisade and rosette-like arrangement of small nucleolus and small tumor cells rich in chromatin. The tumor showed positive reactions to chromogranin A, synaptophysin, and NSE staining, and it was rated T2, N0, Stage IIA, and estrogen receptor (+). Postoperative irradiation was added, but no adjuvant chemotherapy was done.
The clinical study of a total of 27 cases revealed that the mortality rate was about 15%, the important prognostic factor was the presence of metastasis at the operation, more limited operation might be possible, and chemotherapy was meaningful in patients who had lymph node metastasis.
