Metaplastic Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Breast

ABSTRACT

Metaplastic carcinomas of the breast are very rare malignancy and accounts for less than 1% of all mammary tumors. Metaplastic breast cancers are a highly heterogeneous group of neoplasms, where an adenocarcinoma is found to co-exist with an admixture of spindle, squamous and chondroid or bone-forming neoplastic cells. The degree of differentiation of metaplastic cells is also quite variable. Due to the rarity and highly heterogeneous nature of metaplastic breast cancer, there has been controversy regarding the nomenclature and classification of these neoplasms. Also there is little information on the treatment and prognosis of metaplastic breast cancer in the literature. A 75-year old woman presented with a rapidly-growing huge mass in the outer upper quadrant of her left breast of 5 months duration. The mass was a metaplastic squamous breast cancer. We report this case with a review of the literature.