Liu PP, Sun LL, Jing X. Gastrointestinal metastasis from invasive lobular carcinoma following breast cancer treatment: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2025; 13(26): 107496 [DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i26.107496]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Xue Jing, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, No. 59 Haier Road, Jinjialing Street, Laoshan District, Qingdao 266000, Shandong Province, China. jingxue@qdu.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Sep 16, 2025; 13(26): 107496 Published online Sep 16, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i26.107496
Gastrointestinal metastasis from invasive lobular carcinoma following breast cancer treatment: A case report
Ping-Ping Liu, Ling-Ling Sun, Xue Jing
Ping-Ping Liu, Xue Jing, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266000, Shandong Province, China
Ling-Ling Sun, Department of Pathology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, Qingdao 266000, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: Liu PP collected the materials, drafted the manuscript and contributed to the critical revision of the intellectual content; Sun LL provided pathological images and modified legend information; Jing X revised the manuscript and assisted in submitting the final manuscript; all authors gave final approval for the version to be submitted.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was agreed from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Xue Jing, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Gastroenterology, The Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University, No. 59 Haier Road, Jinjialing Street, Laoshan District, Qingdao 266000, Shandong Province, China. jingxue@qdu.edu.cn
Received: March 31, 2025 Revised: April 29, 2025 Accepted: June 7, 2025 Published online: September 16, 2025 Processing time: 114 Days and 19.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Metastasis of breast cancer usually affects the lungs, bones, liver, and brain. It rarely spreads to the gastrointestinal tract, and cases with similar endoscopic manifestations are even rarer. Herein, we report a 52-year-old woman presenting with metastatic lobular carcinoma involving the gastrointestinal tract four years following a left mastectomy, chemoradiotherapy, and hormone therapy for lobular carcinoma of the breast.
CASE SUMMARY
A 52-year-old woman presented with a history of invasive lobular carcinoma and experienced metastasis of breast cancer to the gastrointestinal tract. The patient underwent a left mastectomy and tumor cells were positive for estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR), negative for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) and E-cadherin. She did not experience any local or distant recurrences for four years following the mastectomy, chemoradiotherapy, and hormone therapy. However, the patient complained of upper abdominal discomfort and was transferred to our hospital. The endoscopic examination revealed multiple crater-like ulcers scattered throughout the stomach, gastric antrum, and colorectum. Surprisingly, the histology of colorectum lesions was the same as that of gastric metastasis. Gastric tumor cells were positive for GATA-binding protein 3 (GATA3), PR, and ER, negative for HER2. The colorectum tumor cells were positive for GATA3 and ER and negative for cytokeratin 20. Based on the results of immunohistological examination, a final diagnosis of gastrointestinal metastases from breast cancer was established.
CONCLUSION
Distinguishing metastatic breast cancer from primary gastrointestinal lesions is crucial for initiating the correct treatment and enhancing the quality of life for patients.
Core Tip: It is uncommon for breast cancer to spread simultaneously to the stomach and intestinal tract. We report a case of a 52-year-old woman with metastatic lobular carcinoma in the gastrointestinal tract. This case highlights the critical role of multidisciplinary collaboration. Endoscopic biopsy combined with immunohistochemistry is essential to differentiate metastatic breast cancer from primary gastrointestinal malignancies, guiding timely systemic therapy.
