Metastasizing to the colon from triple-negative breast cancer: A case report and review of literature

Table 1 The timeline of the patient’s clinical history

Timeline	Diagnosis and treatment process	Result
July 2020	Ultrasound-guided puncture biopsy and pathological examination	Diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer
Until October 2020	Six cycles of preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy	Significant shrinkage of the breast mass and supraclavicular area; no apparent reduction in size for the axillary lymph nodes
November 2020	A modified radical mastectomy procedure	Postoperative pathology: Invasive ductal carcinoma, 45 of 46 examined axillary lymph nodes (+), gross cystic disease fluid protein 15 (+), GATA-binding protein 3 (+), E-cadherin (+), CK7 (+), S-100 (+), and ki-67 (10%); estrogen receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (-), progesterone receptor (-) and CK14 (-)
November 2020 to November 2021	Chemotherapy consisting of capecitabine and radiotherapy	CEA 4.3 ng/mL and CA 19-9 25.1 U/mL
February 2021 to December 2021	Follow-up	No observed elevation in CEA and CA 19-9 tumor markers, and no evidence of metastatic disease with positron emission tomography/CT
February 2022	Colonoscopy, laboratory investigations, CT scan and biopsy outcomes	A comprehensive preoperative diagnosis with ascending colon cancer
February 2022	Laparoscopic radical right hemicolectomy, morphological and immunohistochemical examination	Diagnosed with colonic metastasis from breast cancer

CA: Cancer antigen; CEA: Carcinoembryonic antigen; CK: Cytokeratin; CT: Computed tomography.

Table 2 Summary of reported cases of colonic metastasis from breast cancer

Ref.	Age	Original diagnosis (triple-negative breast cancer, Y/N)	Time since mastectomy (years)	Adjuvant treatment after mastectomy	Preoperative symptoms	Colonic metastasis detection by positron emission tomography/computed tomography (Y/N)	Preoperative diagnosis of colonic metastasis from breast cancer (Y/N)
Kamitani et al[17], 1987	56	ILC (N)	7	ND	Abdominal pain	ND	N
Babb and Trollope[18], 2001	72	ND (N)	18	Radiotherapy; hormonal therapy	Asymptomafic	ND	N
Vaidya et al[19], 2002	56	IDC (ND)	5	Radiotherapy; hormonal therapy	Change in bowel habit and weight loss	ND	Y
Zhou et al[20], 2012	54	IDC (N)	6	Chemotherapy; radiotherapy; hormonal therapy	Asymptomafic	ND	Y
Maekawa et al[21], 2012	54	IDC (N)	16	Chemotherapy; hormonal therapy	Asymptomafic	Y	Y
Nikkar-Esfahani et al[22], 2013	63	ILC (ND)	17	ND	Mild abdominal distension	ND	N
Motos-Micó et al[23], 2014	69	ILC (ND)	18	Chemotherapy	Abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting	ND	N
Kim and Moon[24], 2015	46	ND	2	Chemotherapy; radiotherapy	Intermittent hematochezia	Y	Y
Andriola et al[25], 2015	63	IDC and ILC (N)	23	Chemotherapy	A moderate abdominal pain	Y	Y
Gizzi et al[26], 2015	72	ILC (N)	11	Chemotherapy; radiotherapy; hormonal therapy	Abdominal pain and diarrhoea	Y	Y
Jeong et al[27], 2016	58	Inflammatory breast cancer (N)	4	Chemotherapy	Obstructive symptoms	N	Y
Aihara et al[28], 2017	64	ND (ND)	ND	ND	ND	ND	Y
Tsujimura et al[29], 2017	51	ILC (N)	ND	ND	Abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea	Y	Y
Horimoto et al[30], 2018	47	IDC and ILC (N)	5	Chemotherapy; hormonal therapy	Asymptomatic	No	N
Falco et al[31], 2018	67	ILC (N)	14	Chemotherapy; hormonal therapy	Asymptomatic	Y	Y
Schellenberg et al[32], 2018	69	IDC (N)	5	Chemotherapy; radiotherapy; hormonal therapy	Asymptomatic	N	Y
Jones et al[33], 2019	55	IDC (N)	4	Hormonal therapy	Nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain	Y	N
Bering et al[34], 2020	67	ILC (N)	ND	Chemotherapy; hormonal therapy	Change in bowel habit	N	N
Sarfraz et al[35], 2020	60	ILC (N)	5	Hormonal therapy	Abdominal pain, distension, and vomiting	ND	Y
Higley et al[36], 2020	74	ILC (Y)	20	Radiotherapy; hormonal therapy	Decreased stool caliber and constipation	ND	N
Chen et al[37], 2021	62	ND (N)	9	ND	Abdominal pain, bloating	ND	N
Inoue et al[9], 2022	63	ILC (N)	15	Chemotherapy hormonal therapy	Asymptomatic	Y	N
Botto et al[38], 2023	59	ILC(N)	2	Chemotherapy; radiotherapy; hormonal therapy	Asymptomafic	N	Y
This case	44	IDC (Y)	1	Chemotherapy	Abdominal pain and distension	N	N

IDC: Invasive ductal carcinoma; ILC: Invasive lobular carcinoma; ND: Not described; N: No; Y: Yes.