BREAST IMAGES

A Neglected Breast Mass

Randi Katz, DO, and Raghu Kunamneni, MD

Division of Hematology and Oncology, Lenox Hill Hospital, New York, New York

An 84-year-old woman who had not received med-

ical care for over 10 years was admitted to the

hospital with chest pain and shortness of breath. On

physical examination, her left breast (pictured) was

entirely replaced by a protuberant, fungating, foul-

smelling, indurated mass. Biopsy of the mass revealed

a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with focal

mucinous differentiation consistent with invasive ductal

primary breast cancer. The tumor was estrogen receptor

positive and progesterone receptor negative. In addi-

tion, the tumor did not overexpress HER2-neu. The

patient was subsequently transferred to hospice care.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Randi Katz, DO, Lenox

Hill Hospital, Division of Hematology and Oncology, 100 E. 77th St., New

York, NY 10021, USA, or e-mail: randijk@yahoo.com

ª 2006 Blackwell Publishing, Inc., 1075-122X/06The Breast Journal, Volume 12 Number 6, 2006 573