Abstract
A case of peritoneal metastasis of breast cancer which is relatively rare is reported here.
A 43-year-old woman, who underwent a mastectomy for right breast cancer on February 7 1995, was seen at the hospital because of abdominal pain which appeared since the middle of October 1996. Barium enema and colonoscopic studies indicated metastasis of breast cancer to the large intestine. On November 1, the patient was operated on. At upper abdominal midline incision, ascites and peritoneal dissemination were confirmed, and the tumor arisen from the descending colon was unmovable. From these findings, we determined that a radical operation was impossible and performed a loop colostomy in the transverse colon. Histopathological study of a specimen collected from the greater omentum during surgery offered a diagnosis of peritoneal metastasis of the breast cancer.
It takes a relatively long time for breast cancer to metastasize to the peritoneal cavity and digestiveorgans. So we have to make every effort to detect early and treat the metastasis by active exploration of the gastrointestinal organs, if the postoperative patient with breast cancer complains of gastrointestinal symptoms.
