A Case of Locally Advanced Breast Cancer that Underwent Transcatheter Arterial Embolization for Cancerous Skin Ulcer with Persistent Bleeding

Abstract

A 54-year-old woman visited a doctor because a growing left breast mass began to bleed. The patient had received outpatient chemotherapy with Mohs ointment and radiotherapy. After discontinuation of chemotherapy, she had received palliative care from a doctor who visited her at home, and she had received blood transfusion a total of six times because chronic bleeding continued. One year and 11 months after the first visit to the previous doctor, she was transferred to our hospital with significant persistent bleeding that was difficult to treat locally, accompanied by major complaints of sever fatigue and shortness of breath. Despite local treatment and blood transfusion in the hospital, progression of anemia could not be suppressed, and the patient underwent transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) on day 5 of admission. After TAE, not only hemostasis but also exudate and odor notably improved. The patient had a peaceful end-of-life period of 21 days until her death. Here, we report a case of a woman with terminal breast cancer with a cancerous skin ulcer accompanied by persistent uncontrollable bleeding who underwent TAE and had a peaceful end-of-life. Moreover, we provide some discussion.