2012 Volume 51 Issue 2 Pages 116-119
Background : Spindle-cell carcinoma is rare, accounting for 0.3% of all breast carcinoma. We report a case of fibromatosis-like spindle-cell carcinoma difficult to diagnose using fine-needle aspiration cytology.
Case : A 48-year-old woman seen for a mass she found in the left breast was found in fine-needle aspiration cytology to have large numbers of atypical spindle-shaped cells with clear cytoplasmic borders in a mucinous-like material, suggesting a phyllodes tumor. Histological findings of excisional biopsy demonstrated proliferation of spindle-shaped and longoval mesenchymal-like cells. Based on immunostaining, we diagnosed this as fibromatosis-like spindle-cell carcinoma.
Conclusion : Atypical spindle-shaped cells found in primary breast-tumor cytology, may be fibromatosis, stromal sarcoma or phyllodes tumor. Cell numbers differentiated our case from fibromatosis and cellular atypia from stromal sarcoma, but it was difficult to differentiate it from phyllodes.
