Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Aug 16, 2023; 11(23): 5573-5579
Published online Aug 16, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i23.5573
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma with synchronous breast metastasis: A case report
Ye-Yan Lei, Dong-Mei Li
Ye-Yan Lei, Dong-Mei Li, Department of Surgery, Guangdong Chinese Medicine Hospital Zhuhai Branch, Zhuhai 519015, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Lei YY and Li DM designed the research study; Lei YY performed the research; Lei YY wrote the manuscript; All authors have read and approve the final manuscript.
Supported by The High-level Health Team Project introduced in Zhuhai (Second batch).
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for the publication of clinical details and/or clinical images. A copy of the consent form is available for review by the journal’s editor.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Dr. Li reports grants from The High-level Health Team Project introduced in Zhuhai (Second batch) during the conduct of the study.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Dong-Mei Li, MM, Chief Physician, Department of Surgery, Guangdong Chinese Medicine Hospital Zhuhai Branch, No. 53 Jingle Road, Zhuhai 519015, Guangdong Province, China. 896184582@qq.com
Received: May 19, 2023
Peer-review started: May 19, 2023
First decision: June 1, 2023
Revised: June 10, 2023
Accepted: July 21, 2023
Article in press: July 21, 2023
Published online: August 16, 2023
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Recent reports have described cases of metachronous breast metastasis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. However, no similar cases of synchronous breast metastasis have been reported, and evidence that can be used to support the clinical diagnosis of stage IV nasopharyngeal carcinoma in patients with concurrent breast metastasis remains lacking. Therefore, additional evidence is required to elucidate the clinical characteristics of this condition and aid in the development of optimal management strategies.

CASE SUMMARY

We report the case of a 46-year-old woman who visited our hospital with a right breast mass as the first symptom. The first pathological biopsy report suggested triple-negative breast invasive carcinoma. Subsequent imaging revealed a nasopharyngeal mass. Further puncture biopsy of the nasopharyngeal mass, molecular pathological Epstein–Barr virus in situ hybridization, and immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma with breast metastasis. The patient did not undergo a mastectomy and achieved complete remission after chemotherapy and radiotherapy. She continued to receive oral chemotherapy as maintenance therapy and experienced no recurrence or metastasis during the 6-month follow-up period.

CONCLUSION

This case report suggests that breast specialists should carefully rule out secondary breast cancers when diagnosing and treating breast masses. Furthermore, clinicians should aim to identify the pathological type of the tumor to obtain the most accurate diagnosis and prevent excessive diagnosis and treatment.

Keywords: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma, Concurrent breast metastasis, Chemoradiotherapy, Cancer, Pathology, Case report

Core Tip: The most common sites of distant metastasis in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are the bones, lungs, liver, and distant lymph nodes; metastasis to the breast is rare. To date, only a few cases of NPC metastasis to the breast have been reported in the literature, and all occurred secondary to the diagnosis and treatment of NPC. Here, we present the clinical characteristics, treatment strategies, and follow-up information for a patient with newly diagnosed stage IV NPC who developed synchronous breast metastasis. Furthermore, we conducted a literature review to provide evidence for comprehensive management of this condition.