Huge Exophytic Atypical Medullary Breast Cancer

ABSTRACT

A medullary carcinoma of the breast is an uncommon breast cancer subtype, but has a fair prognosis. The histopathological criteria for a medullary carcinoma were delineated by Ridolfi et al. in 1977, and most pathologists use these criteria. The authors experienced a huge carcinoma of the breast, which was diagnosed as an atypical medullary carcinoma. A 47-year old female visited our clinic due to a breast mass of six months duration. The mass was 16 cm in size and exophytic in the left lower breast. There had been necrosis, with a foul odor in most of the mass. A large fixed axillary lymph node was noted, but there was no evidence of distant metastasis. A radical mastectomy was performed due to invasion of the pectoralis major. On pathological examination, the tumor was diagnosed as an atypical medullary carcinoma.