Late Endobronchial Pulmonary Metastasis in a Patient with Breast Cancer.

The lung is a common location for malignant metastases. However, endobronchial metastases from nonpulmonary neoplasms are rare. Metastatic breast cancer usually occurs in 2-3 years of the disease course. A 65-year-old woman visited our hospital for the evaluation of dry cough. The patient had a history of breast cancer, which was treated with modified radical mastectomy and axillary dissection 10 years ago; she was then treated with aromatase inhibitor for 5 years. Chest X-ray revealed right hilum enlargement. Thorax computed tomography revealed a 35-mm diameter mass that was localized in the right hilum. Fiberoptic bronchoscopy was performed, and an endobronchial lesion was observed in the right main lobe carina. Pathological evaluation revealed that the mass was a metastasis of the invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. Weekly paklitaxel chemotherapy was initiated because of the symptomatic disease. We reported the case of a patient with breast cancer who had an endobronchial metastasis. Her disease-free interval was 10 years. This case indicates that a long-term follow-up of breast cancer is necessary, and biopsies must be performed to make a final diagnosis when any suspicious hilum enlargement is observed.