Case report: Metaplastic carcinoma presenting as a breast abscess

Corrine Wong¹ , Chris Wright² , Angela Colclough³ and Simon Marsh⁴

¹SHO in Surgery, Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust, Department of Surgery, Colchester General Hospital, Turner Road, Colchester, Essex, CO4 5JL, UK

²SHO in Surgery, Department of Surgery, Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust, Colchester General Hospital, Turner Road, Colchester, Essex, CO4 5JL, UK

³Consultant Pathologist, Department of Histopathology, Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust, Colchester General Hospital, Turner Road, Colchester, Essex, CO4 5JL, UK

⁴Consultant Surgeon, Department of Surgery, Essex Rivers Healthcare NHS Trust, Colchester General Hospital, Turner Road, Colchester, Essex, CO4 5JL, UK

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International Seminars in Surgical Oncology 2006, 3:23doi:10.1186/1477-7800-3-23


Published:	2 September 2006

Abstract

Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) is a rare neoplasm containing a mixture of epithelial and mesenchymal elements. The epithelial component is usually ductal carcinoma but may include other variants of breast carcinomas including squamous carcinoma and osteogenic sarcoma. There is a relative paucity of data regarding such tumours. Metaplastic carcinoma carries a prognosis not dissimilar to that of comparable ductal carcinoma. This is the case of a 57 year old patient with MBC presenting with a breast abscess. A thorough literature search has not revealed any previous reports of MBC presenting as a breast abscess.