Abstract
A case of local recurrence developing thirty years after mastectomy for a breast cancer is described. A 73-year-old female was seen at the hospital because of a mass in the anterior chest wall. There was a previous history of undergoing a radical mastectomy when she was 43 years old. A 1.5×1.2cm unmovabile and elastic hard mass was palpated in subcutaneous tissure along the operation scar. With fine needle aspilation cytology, the tumor was diagnosed as local recurrence of the breast cancer and resection of the chest wall was carried out. Histological examination revealed invasive ductal carcinoma. The patient is free from further recurrence one year and eight months thereafter.
Many patients with latent recurrence of breast cancer are aged, but the operative procedure for the recurrence in the soft tissue is less invasive and provides an improvement of quality of life. Operation followed by endocrine therapy with minimal side effects is a treatment of choice for a recurrence in soft tissue with long DFI.
