A pure invasive cribriform carcinoma of the breast with bone metastasis if untreated for thirteen years: a case report and literature review

Wei Zhang, Zhichun Lin, Tongxian Zhang, Fen Liu, Yun Niu

We report a case of pure invasive cribriform carcinoma of the breast, which had been untreated for thirteen years, being found with bone metastasis at initial presentation, because distant metastasis is rarely found in this tumor. A fifty-nine-year-old postmenopausal woman presented with a large left breast mass. Although she had noticed a lump in a left breast thirteen years ago, she had not sought treatment. The tumor had enlarged gradually since from one year before and become ulcerated. The two enlarged axillary lymph nodes were also palpable. After two cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, she underwent left radial mastectomy with a free skin graft. Emission computed tomography result has confirmed bone metastasis. The histological diagnosis of the tumor revealed the pure invasive cribriform carcinoma, since over than ninety percent of invasive tumor components showed a characteristic cribriform growth, and the remainder was tubular carcinoma. She has been well without evidence of tumor recurrence for seven years after surgery and several routine postoperative therapies. Although with favorable prognosis, pure invasive cribriform carcinoma is still possible to develop into the advanced (Stage four) breast cancer if untreated for a long time. However, the survival of this patient for free disease after several locoregional and systemic therapies maybe provide a supplement for invasive cribriform carcinoma's excellent prognosis.