A Case of Breast Cancer Completely Vanished after Biopsy with Vacuum-assisted Breast Biopsy Device

Abstract

A 48-year-old woman presenting with microcalcifications of the right breast revealed to have a 12.7×6.4 mm irregular hypoechoic mass in the right A area. It was diagnosed as invasive ductal carcinoma containing intraductal spreading of the right breast by means of ultra-sound-assisted biopsy with vacuum-assisted breast biopsy device. We performed Bp + SN with the diagnosis of Stage I breast cancer. Although breast-conserving surgery was proceeded without neoadjuvant chemotherapy, there were no residual cancer cells in the specimen. Only severe acute inflammatory changes such as infiltrating lymphoid cells, multinucleated giant cells, and foam cells were found in it. We determined that cancer remnants were absent. A comparison between the biopsied and the resected tissues was made.

Immunohistochemical staining of CD8, for the marker of the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte, revealed that acute inflammatory reaction, suggesting immunological reaction to the cancer tissue, had started at the time of biopsy and had increased in the surgical specimen. Although there might have been tumor immunity to the breast cancer at the time of biopsy in this case, destruction of the tumor tissue by vacuum-assisted breast biopsy device might induce stronger immunological and inflammatory reactions that might contribute to the vanished cancer.