Abstract
Adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare type of breast cancer with a prevalence of about 0.1%, shows low-grade malignant potential and rare distant metastases, and it is mostly negative for estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR). One case of adenoid cystic carcinoma with ipsilateral local recurrence and another case with positive ER are presented.
A 59-year-old woman who had been diagnosed as having adenoid cystic carcinoma and underwent surgery 6 years earlier was referred to our hospital with a painful palpable mass in her left breast. The physical examination revealed a hard mass of 4 cm. On mammographic examination and ultrasonography followed by core needle biopsy, she was diagnosed as having local recurrence of adenoid cystic carcinoma, and she thus underwent breast-conserving surgery.
The second case was a 76-year-old woman with a palpable hard mass of 4.6 cm in her right breast. This was diagnosed as breast cancer by fine needle aspiration cytology, and total mastectomy with axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy was performed. On histopathology, the tumor was diagnosed as an ER-positive adenoid cystic carcinoma. Both patients have been doing well without evidence of recurrence.
