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Vol.61 No.5 contents

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- Original Article -

Surgical Cases of Pulmonary Nodules in Patients with Breast Cancer

Miyuki Abe¹, Daiki Noda¹, Takashi Karashima¹, Yohei Takumi¹, Takafumi Hashimoto¹, Kentaro Anami¹, Michiyo Miyawaki¹, Hideya Takeuchi¹, Atsushi Osoegawa¹, Kenji Sugio^1
1Department of Thoracic and Breast Surgery, Oita University Faculty of Medicine, Japan

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Objective. The differentiation of pulmonary nodules appearing during follow-up after breast cancer surgery between primary lung cancer and metastatic lung tumor can be difficult. We evaluated the usefulness of a surgical biopsy based on a case of pulmonary nodule surgery after breast cancer performed in our institution. Study Design. Thirty-six patients who underwent surgery for pulmonary nodules at our institution between 1999 and 2016 with a history of breast cancer were included in the study. The clinicopathological features were reviewed. Results. There were 19 cases of primary lung cancer, 11 cases of breast cancer lung metastasis, 1 case of both nodules of breast cancer lung metastasis plus primary lung cancer, and 5 cases of others. Comparisons between the primary lung cancer group and the metastatic lung tumor group showed no significant differences in the age, pathological stage or subtype of breast cancer, time to lung nodule development, or size of the lung nodules. On computed tomography, all cases showing ground-glass opacity were diagnosed with primary lung cancer, whereas the findings of solid nodules were present in both primary and metastatic lung tumor. Conclusion. A surgical biopsy is the most reliable method for making a differential diagnosis of solid pulmonary nodules in patients with breast cancer. In addition, surgery for curative resection of early-stage primary lung cancer and a re-biopsy for metastatic lung tumor is a viable approach.
key words: Lung cancer, Metastatic lung tumor, Breast cancer, Double cancers

Received: February 26, 2021
Accepted: June 21, 2021

JJLC 61 (5): 389-395, 2021