Diagnosis and treatment of occult breast carcinoma / 中国普通外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the characteristic, diagnosis and treatment of occult breast carcinoma(OBC). Methods The clinical data of 12 cases of OBC were analyzed retrospectively.Results All patients showed axillary node enlargement as the first sign and were operated on. The operation included axillary node excision (ANE) in 1 patient, axillary node excision plus simple mastectomy in another one, radical mastectomy in 6, and modified radical mastectomy in the other 4,respectively. Eleven patients (91.7%) were followed up for 1-15 years. During the follow up, 1 patient who underwent axillary node resection and 1 who received ANE plus simple mastectomy died of systemic metastasis,18 and 22 months after operation respectively;another case who subjected to radical mastectomy had axillary lymph node metastasis 3 years after the operation,and was re operated on,but the patient died of lung metastasis 4 years after the reoperation. And the others still survived, in which 2 have lived for over 3 years, 2 over 5 years, and 4 over 10 years. Conclusions For axillary mass which causes are uncertain, the possibility of OBC should be considered.Meanwhile excision and pathological examination are necessary. The metastatic histological structure of the axillary nodes usually provide important clue for the source of tumor. Radical or modified mastectomy is the best treatment,and post operative chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy should be done.