Breast sarcoma is a rare entity that accounts for less than 1% of all breast malignancies; it may spread by direct invasion and/or through the blood. Axillary lymph node involvement is extremely rare and usually associated with advanced-stage disease. In the surgical treatment of this neoplasm, complete axillary lymphadenectomy is important for the local clearance of the clinically involved lymph nodes. We report a case of a 65-year-old woman affected by follicular dendritic cell sarcoma of the left breast. Six months after breast surgery she developed an axillary metastasis from the same disease.
NorrisH.J., TaylorH.B.: Sarcomas and related mesenchymal tumors of the breast.Cancer,22: 22–28, 1968.
2.
LudgateC.M., AndersonT.J., LanglandsA.O.: Sarcoma of the breast: report of a series of 30 cases.Clin Oncol,3: 97–105, 1977.
3.
BouropoulouV., MarkakiS., PrevedorouD.: Sarcomas of the breast: a clinicopathologic, histochemical and immunohistochemical study of ten cases.Breast Dis,2: 59–70, 1989.
4.
PollardS.G., MarksP.V., TempleL.N.: Breast sarcoma: a clinicopathologic review of 25 cases.Cancer,66: 941–944, 1990.
5.
LanghamM.R., MillisA.S.: Malignant fibrous histiocytoma of the breast. A case report and review of the literature.Cancer,54: 558–563, 1984.
6.
WijnmaalenA., van OoijenB., van Geel: Angiosarcoma of the breast following lumpectomy, axillary node dissection and radiotherapy for primary breast cancer.Radiat Oncol Biol Phys,26: 135–139, 1993.
7.
RubienE., MaddoxW.A., MazurM.T.: Cutaneous angiosarcoma of the breast 7 years after lumpectomy and radiation therapy.Radiology,174: 258–260, 1990.
8.
ZucaliR., MersonM., PlacucciM., VeronesiU.: Soft tissue sarcoma of the breast after conservative surgery and irradiation for early mammary cancer.Radiother Oncol,30: 271–300, 1994.
9.
FongY., CoitD., WoodruffJ.: Lymph node metastasis for soft tissue sarcoma in adults. Analysis of data from a prospective data base of 1722 sarcoma patients.Ann Surg,217: 12–111993.
10.
McGowanT.S., CummingsB.J., O'SullivanB., CattonC.N., MillerN., PanzarellaT.: An analysis of 78 breast sarcoma patients without distant metastasis at presentation.Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys,46: 383–390, 2000.
11.
CalleryC.D., RosenPP, KinneD.W.: Sarcoma of the breast: a study of 32 patients with reappraisal of classification and therapy.Ann Surg,201: 527–332, 1985.
12.
ObermanH.A.: Sarcomas of the breast.Cancer,18: 1233–1243, 1965.
13.
ChristensenL., SchiodtT., Blichert-ToftM., HansenJ.P., HansenO.H.: Sarcomas of the breast. A clinicopathologic study of 67 patients with long-term follow up.Eur J Surg Oncol,14: 241–247, 1988.
14.
GutmanH., PollockR.E., RossM.I., BenjaminR.S., JohnstonD.A., JanjanN.A., RomsdahlM.M.: Sarcoma of the breast: implications for extent of therapy. The MD Anderson experience.Surgery,116: 505–509, 1994.
15.
SalvadoriB., GrecoM., GalluzzoD., PiottiP., ClementeC.: Surgery for malignant mesenchymal tumors of the breast. A series of 31 cases.Tumori,68: 325–329, 1982.
16.
SmolaM., RatschekM., AmannW., SamoniggH., MayerR.: The impact of resection margins in the treatment of primary sarcomas of the breast.Eur J Surg Oncol,19: 61–69, 1993.
17.
TerrierP., Terrier-LacombeM.J., MouriesseH., FriedmanS., SpielmannM., ContessoG.: Primary breast sarcoma. A review of 33 cases with immunohistochemistry and prognostic factors.Breast Cancer Res Treat,13: 39–48, 1989.
18.
ChenK., KirkegaardD.D., BocianJ.J.: Angiosarcoma of the breast.Cancer,46: 368–371, 1980.
19.
BarnesL., PietruskaM.: Sarcomas of the breast. A clinico-patholigic analysis of ten cases.Cancer,40: 1577–1585, 1977.
20.
ShabahangM., FranceschiD., SundaramM., CastilloM.H., MoffatF.L., FrankD.S., RosenbergE.R., BullockK.E., LivingstoneA.S.: Surgical management of primary breast sarcoma.Am Surg,68: 673–677, 2002.
21.
TochikaN., KumonM., OgawaY., SugimotoT., ArakiK.: Stromal sarcoma of the breast with lung metastasis successfully treated by radiotherapy: report of a case.Surg Today,30: 282–285, 2000.
22.
KennedyT., BiggartJ.D.: Sarcoma of the breast.Br J Cancer,21: 635–644, 1967.
23.
Perez-OrdonezB., RosaiJ.: Follicular dendritic cell tumor: review of the entity.Semin Diagn Pathol,15: 144–154, 1998.
24.
PruneriG., MasulloM., RenneG., TaccagniG., ManzottiM., LuiniA., VialeG.: Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma of the breast.Case report. Virchows Arch,441: 194–199, 2002.
25.
FisherC., MagnussonB., HardarsonS., SmithM.E.: Myxoid variant of follicular cell sarcoma arising in the breast.Ann Diagn Pathol,3: 92–98, 1999.
26.
ChanJ., FletcherC., NaylerS., CooperK.: Follicular dendritic cell sarcoma. Clinicopathologic analysis of 17 cases suggesting a malignant potential higher than currently recognized.Cancer,79: 294–313, 1997.
27.
Perez-OrdoñezB., ErlandsonR.A., RosaiJ.: Follicular dendritic cell tumor: report of 13 additional cases of a distinctive entity.Am J Surg Pathol,20: 944–955, 1996.