A case report of metastatic breast cancer initially presenting with esophageal dysphagia.

RATIONALE

Breast cancer metastasis to the esophagus is uncommon. To our knowledge, the present case is the first report of breast cancer with dysphagia as the initial symptom.

PATIENT CONCERNS

A 62-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for progressive dysphagia.

DIAGNOSES

Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle biopsy of the esophageal lesion found poorly differentiated carcinoma, and surgical resection of the breast nodule revealed invasive ductal carcinoma.

INTERVENTIONS

The patient underwent an esophagectomy, and the immunohistochemistry of surgical specimen was identified as metastatic breast cancer. Then patient was treated with chemotherapy and hormone therapy.

OUTCOMES

The patient remained symptom-free during 5 months of follow-up examinations.

LESSONS

This case indicates that metastatic breast cancer to the esophagus should be considered as a cause of esophageal stricture in older women.