Gastrointestinal Metastasis From Breast Cancer: Report Of Five Patients From A Retrospective Analysis Of 740 Cases At A Single Institute And Review Of The Literature

e11529 Background: Luminal gastrointestinal (GI) metastasis from breast cancer are rare, reports are fragmentary and poor. The purpose of this study was to assess the GI involvement from breast cancer in a retrospective study at a single institution and to review the literature. Methods: Between January 2007 and December 2010 a total of 740 patients with breast cancer were treated at our institute, patients’ records and report database were analysed. Institutional Review Board approval was obtained for this study. We also performed a review of the literature. A search of the literature using PubMed, CancerLit (National Cancer Institute); Embase was performed using the terms “breast cancer, GI metastases, GI tract, palliative surgery”. Articles and abstracts were also identified by back-referencing from original and relevant papers. Selected for the present review were papers published in English before December 2010. Results: 5 of 740 patients (0.67 %) showed GI metastasis from breast cancer, 3 patients had gastric involvement, 1 jejunum, and 2 rectum. Reviewing the literature, we found 105 patients affected by GI metastasis from breast cancer: the most frequent site of metastasis was the stomach (37 %), then the esophagus (21 %), small intestine (15 %), colon (15 %), rectum (9 %), oropharynx (2 %) and anum (1 %). The majority of the patients underwent chemotherapy, and endocrine therapy, someone surgery, and 1 patient affected by esophageal involvement underwent pneumatic dilatation. Conclusions: In conclusion, GI metastases from breast cancer are rare, but possible: each site of the GI tract can be involved, from the mouth to the anum, and a very late recurrence is also possible. So, a cito-histological diagnosis is mandatory, to differentiate GI metastasis from breast cancer from other diseases and to allow a definite and adequate treatment.