A rare breast tumor: solid neuroendocrine carcinoma.

BACKGROUND

Solid neuroendocrine carcinoma of breast (NECB) is extremely rare. In this paper, we present a case of inflammatory primary solid neuroendocrine carcinoma of breast managed by surgery and chemotherapy and a brief review of the epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, pathologic features, treatment, and prognosis of solid NECB.

METHODS

A 63-year-old woman was admitted in our institution with inflammatory primary solid neuroendocrine carcinoma of breast. A bulky mass of 6,5 cm tumor was located in the upper-outer and intern quadrant of her right breast. The patient underwent neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, and subsequent radical mastectomy with axillary lymph node dissection. Microscopically, the tumor was classified as solid cohesive, the tumor cells were positive for neuroendocrine markers chromogranin A and synaptophysin. 19 lymph nodes of 27 were metastatic.

RESULTS

Local recurrence and metastatic progression was noted only one month after the surgery, the patient was managed by chemotherapy and hormone-therapy. She is still alive, 24 months after diagnosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Solid neuroendocrine carcinoma is a subtype of mammary carcinoma with several distinctive features. Because of the rarity of this disease, there is no standard treatment, they are characterized by a higher propensity for local and distant recurrence, This case reinforces the importance to explore the novels therapeutics regimen and one of ways to explore is the use of VP16-cisplatine as treatment as it was partially efficacy for this kind of tumor.