A case of breast cancer found as metastasis to the duodenum

A 58-year-old woman underwent left total mastectomy for invasive ductual carcinoma of the breast in 2002. In November 2007, the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy showed that an ulcer (~ 0.3 × 0.5 cm) was covered with white fur and surrounded by edematus tissue at the anterior wall of duodenal bulb. The follow-up pathological examination revealed that the morphology of the cells of duodenal cancer was identical to those of the breast cancer. Moreover, the immunohistochemical analysis on the tumor was positive for estrogen receptor, which confirmed the metastasis of breast cancer. The patient was treated with 12 cycles of FOLFOX4 regimen and achieved complete response.   Key words: Breast cancer, metastasis, duodenum.