Ces radiol. 2018, 72(1):40-45 | DOI: 10.55095/CesRadiol2018/007

Breast cancer and pheochromocytoma - a case report about rare synchronous tumor occurrenceCase report

Lucia Veverková¹, Filip Čtvrtlík¹, Eva Buriánková², Zdeněk Fryšák³, Igor Hartmann⁴, Jozef Škarda⁵, Michaela Zezulová⁶, Olga Klementová⁷, Paulina Szasz¹, Zbyněk Tüdös¹

¹ Radiologická klinika LF UP a FN, Olomouc

² Klinika nukleární medicíny FN, Olomouc

³ III. interní klinika - nefrologická, revmatologická a endokrinologická LF UP a FN, Olomouc

⁴ Urologická klinika LF UP a FN, Olomouc

⁵ Ústav klinické a molekulární patologie LF a FN, Olomouc

⁶ Onkologická klinika LF UP a FN, Olomouc

⁷ Klinika anesteziologie, resuscitace a intenzivní medicíny LF UP a FN, Olomouc

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in the female population. The diagnostic process of breast cancer includes evaluation of the histological type, measuring its size, determination of local staging, exclusion of contralateral breast involvement, assessment of the lymph nodes and ruling out distant metastases. Breast cancer often spreads to bones, the liver and lungs. Metastatic spread of breast carcinoma to adrenal glands is very rare. Besides metastatic involvement, the possibility of multiple primary benign or malignant tumors should be considered when interpreting staging imaging. In addition to benign adenomas, which constitute the most numerous group of adrenal tumors, pheochromocytomas can also be encountered. These tumors can be easily mistaken for adrenal metastases, as they are relatively large, heterogeneous, usually contain central necrosis and do display significant contrast enhancement on CT scans; they also accumulate fluorodeoxyglucose on PET scans. Unlike metastases, however, most pheochromocytomas have a regular shape and a smooth margin. The aim of our paper is to describe the case of a patient with breast carcinoma and the synchronous occurrence of adrenal pheochromocytoma, to point out the morphological features that can identify the pheochromocytoma and also to stress the specific management prior to adrenalectomy. Furthermore, the article illustrates the general necessity of proper staging, which has a crucial influence on the treatment.

Keywords: adrenalectomy, breast carcinoma, pheochromocytoma, staging

Grants and funding:

Podpořeno z programového projektu Ministerstva zdravotnictví ČR s reg. č. 17-31847A.

Accepted: February 15, 2018; Published: March 1, 2018  Show citation