Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast in two Chinese women

Abstract

Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast is a rare breast neoplasm. This report describes two Chinese women diagnosed with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast. The first patient was a 54-year-old woman with stage pT1cN0M0 triple-negative disease treated with wide local excision and axillary dissection followed by adjuvant chemotherapy with adriamycin and cyclophosphamide, and adjuvant radiotherapy. She was disease-free on follow-up at 19 months. The second patient was a 63-year-old woman presenting with a 10-cm right breast mass. She was given one cycle of neoadjuvant chemotherapy using docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil without clinical response. Modified radical mastectomy with transverse rectus abdominis myocutaneous flap was performed. Pathology showed stage pT3N0M0 triple-negative disease. Adjuvant locoregional radiotherapy was given. She was disease-free on follow-up at 19 months. As reported in the literature, squamous cell carcinoma of the breast is mostly triple negative, of large size, and has infrequent nodal involvement at presentation. The disease runs a more aggressive clinical course. There is no consensus on the role and mode of adjuvant treatment. The choice of chemotherapy regimen for this histology remains to be defined. © 2012 Hong Kong College of Radiologists.