A Giant Invasive Cribriform Carcinoma Presenting as a Breast Abscess: A Case of Massive Cystic Degeneration
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Case Report
Abstract: Yuanchao Zhu, Chuanbo Feng, Hua Shao, Xinwen Zheng Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, The Second People’s Hospital of Lianyungang & The Oncology Hospital of Lianyungang, Lianyungang, Jiangsu, 222000, People’s Republic of ChinaCorrespondence: Xinwen Zheng, Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery, The Second People’s Hospital of Lianyungang & The Oncology Hospital of Lianyungang, Lianyungang, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Invasive cribriform carcinoma (ICC) is a rare, well-differentiated subtype of breast cancer that usually presents as a small, slow-growing solid mass. We report a 57-year-old woman with a giant, painful left breast mass clinically mimicking a breast abscess. Ultrasonography showed a large mixed cystic–solid lesion, and aspiration yielded approximately 900 mL of bloody fluid. Core needle biopsy confirmed ICC of the Luminal A subtype. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy showed limited efficacy, and the patient first underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy (1/8 positive), followed by modified radical mastectomy with axillary lymph node dissection, with postoperative pathology revealing sentinel lymph node metastasis in 1 of 8 nodes. This case highlights that ICC can rarely present as a massive cystic lesion with inflammatory features, and malignancy should be suspected when bloody fluid is aspirated from a presumed breast abscess.Keywords: invasive cribriform carcinoma, giant breast tumor, cystic degeneration, breast abscess mimic, case report
Authors: Zhu Y, Feng C, Shao H, Zheng X
Language: English
Subfield: Pathology and Forensic Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7160575583
FWCI:
Cites:
Cited by:
Related to: