Abstract
A 57-year-old woman was diagnosed with left breast cancer in March 2011 and a mastectomy with axillary and infraclavicular lymph node dissection was performed (pT2N3aM0 stage IIIC). Postoperative adjuvant therapy consisting of four courses of cyclophosphamide plus epirubicin was administered starting in April 2011, and then four courses of paclitaxel were administered starting in July 2011. In January 2012, her tumor marker levels (CEA, CA15-3) were elevated and multiple liver metastases were detected. We administered six more courses of cyclophosphamide plus epirubicin. Her tumor marker levels (CEA, CA15-3) decreased and the liver metastases shrank.
Starting in May, she complained of appetite loss and her performance status rapidly decreased. We could not detect any abnormal findings on brain computed tomography. Twenty days after the appearance of symptoms, brain magnetic resonance imaging revealed leptomeningeal enhancement and malignant cells were collected from the cerebrospinal fluid. She was diagnosed with meningeal carcinomatosis from breast cancer. Herein, we report a case of meningeal carcinomatosis from breast cancer which progressed rapidly, with review of literature.
