Abstract

A 47-year-old woman, suffering from von Recklinghausen's disease, visited us because the tumor grew rapidly on her right neck. Except for numerous pigmented spots and cutaneous neurofibromas, there was a 18×10cm tumor on the area from right lateral neck to the right supraclavicular fossa, in addition to an indurated tumor measuring approximately 5cm in diameter on the right breast. According to the operative findings of an emergency operation for the lesion on the right neck, it was suspected of malignant tumor.
Histopathologic diagnosis from department of clinical pathology was malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor complicated with von Recklinghausen's disease. However, since the lesion had intralesional small nests and scattered large clear cells, it was suspected of undifferentiated cancer. Immunohistochemistry for myoglobin, desmin, NSE, S-100, EMA etc. could not show definite result. On the other hand, a biopsy specimen from her right breast was histopathologically diagnosed as breast cancer. Based upon all the above-mentioned histopathologic findings of both lesions of the right neck and the right breast, the lesion of the right neck was finally diagnosed as metastatic lesion of the breast cancer.