Gastric metastasis from breast cancer: five cases and a single-institutional review

Abstract

Gastric metastasis from breast cancer has a high rate of misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis. Data of patients who had gastric metastasis from breast cancer were retrieved from our hospital between 2014 and 2020. The gastric metastasis from breast cancer incidence was 0.04% (5/14,169 cases of breast cancer). Four patients had invasive lobular carcinoma, and the other patient had invasive ductal carcinoma. The time from the initial diagnosis of breast cancer to the appearance of gastric metastasis ranged from 0 to 12 years. One patient’s endoscopic presentation was similar to mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma and presented with gastric mucosal congestion and edema, widened wrinkles, mixed color fading, and redness. The initial pathological diagnosis of this patient was mucosal-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma, and breast cancer was finally confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Hormonal receptors were highly expressed in four patients with primary and metastasis lesions and were negative in one patient. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 was negative in all patients. Mammaglobin and GATA3 were positive in all patients. In conclusion, the gastric metastasis of breast cancer incidence rate is low, and misdiagnosis can lead to insufficient or excessive treatment. Multiple biopsies and immunohistochemistry should be performed to diagnose gastric metastasis of breast cancer.