A Case of Breast Cancer with Rapid Tumor Progression at Puncture Site after Core Needle Biopsy

Abstract

A 47-year-old woman presented to our hospital with a left breast mass and was diagnosed with left breast cancer using a core needle biopsy (CNB). The day after the biopsy, redness and pain at the puncture site were observed, and the patient was treated with antibiotics and drainage, with the assumption that it was a wound infection ; however, no improvement was observed. Each imaging examination showed a continuous soft-tissue shadow between the tumor and the epidermis of the biopsy puncture site. An incisional tissue biopsy was performed at the same site, and malignant findings were obtained. The tumor was aggravated by severe inflammation and was resistant to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and the patient died 176 days after the initial diagnosis. The patient did not reach the downstaging because the time required to diagnose the symptoms immediately after CNB delayed the start of chemotherapy due to the rapid progression of tumor cells and inflammatory spread. Although there have been numerous reports of needle tract seeding after CNB, there have been no reports such as the present case in which rapid progression with clinical findings was observed on imaging. This case involved inflammatory spillover of the tumor by a mechanism other than conventional needle tract seeding as the cause of tumor aggravation.