Malignant extrahepatic bile duct tumors with syncronous breast cancer – case report of two cases

Introduction: Simultaneous occurrence of two independent cancers are rare. In those cases medical and surgical treatment should be tailored for the special need and condition of the patient.

Patients: We report of 2 patients, both of them have been presented with jaundice. One of them was referred to the gastroenterologist for endoscopic diagnosis and treatment. A Klatskin tumour was diagnosed and stented endoscopically. After surgical referral an MRI scan was done to exclude liver metastases. During the MRI examinations the radiologist noticed a malignantly looking tumour in the left breast as well. The second patient was presented urgently to our department with abdominal pain and jaundice. On physical examination -besides the biliary obstruction- a lump in the left breast was palpated. After endoscopic stenting of the malignant stenosis of the common bile duct, the breast tumour was also confirmed.

In both patients we operated the breaest tumor first and two weeks after the breast operations we resected the bile duct tumor as well.

Conclusion: We would like to call attention to the careful physical and instrumental examination of every single patient.