CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Med Paediatr Oncol 2017; 38(03): 367-370
DOI: 10.4103/ijmpo.ijmpo_118_16
Case Report

Pilomatrix Carcinoma Masquerading as Breast Carcinoma

Trupti Pai
Department of Pathology, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Shweta R Harwani
Department of Pathology, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Asawari Patil
Department of Pathology, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Ayushi Sahay
Department of Pathology, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Tanuja Shet
Department of Pathology, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Vani Parmar
Department of Surgical, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Tabassum Wadasadawala
Department of Radiation Oncology, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
,
Sangeeta B Desai
Department of Pathology, Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
› Author Affiliations
Financial support and sponsorship Nil.

Abstract

Pilomatrix carcinoma is an exceedingly rare skin adnexal neoplasm derived from piliferous follicles, usually occurring in the head and neck region. Localization of this tumor in the breast is a rarity. We now report an unusual case of a 49-year-old female who presented with a palpable mass in the left breast for 2 years. Mammogram revealed a large, lobulated opacity with calcification, and positron emission tomography–computed tomography showed a metabolically active soft tissue mass measuring 15 cm involving all the quadrants of the left breast. Subsequently, the patient underwent radical mastectomy, and histopathologic diagnosis of pilomatrix carcinoma of the breast was offered. Pilomatrix carcinoma, although exceedingly rare, can have an intramammary location and can be misdiagnosed as breast carcinoma on limited material. A high index of suspicion is required to arrive at an accurate diagnosis so as to obviate neoadjuvant chemotherapy.



Publication History

Article published online:
04 July 2021

© 2017. Indian Society of Medical and Paediatric Oncology. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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