Journal of
eISSN: 2373-633X
Submit manuscript...
Case Report Volume 17 Issue 2
Invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast metastasizing to the lesser pelvis. part I: urinary bladder and uterine cervix
László Tabár, Peter B Dean, Miklós Tarján
Department of Mammography, Falun Central Hospital, Sweden
Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Finland
Department of Clinical Pathology and Cytology, Falun Central Hospital, Sweden
Received: April 23, 2026 | Published: June 1, 2026
Citation: Tabár L, Dean PB, Tarján M. Invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast metastasizing to the lesser pelvis. part I: urinary bladder and uterine cervix. J Cancer Prev Curr Res. 2026;17(3):72‒76. DOI: 10.15406/jcpcr.2026.17.00610
Abstract
Background: The breast malignancy currently termed invasive lobular carcinoma has heterogeneous clinical, imaging and histopathologic features. It frequently metastasizes to the soft tissues of distant organs and has one of the highest fatality rates of all breast cancers. Case presentation: This report describes two cases of fatal breast cancers representing two separate subtypes of invasive lobular carcinoma that spread to the lesser pelvis. The clinical and mammographic findings were striking in the first case, in which the classic form of the malignancy subsequently metastasized to the urinary bladder and later to the lumbar spine and pleura, but the immunohistochemical biomarkers (ER/PR positive, HER2 negative, Ki67 7%) did not predict the poor patient outcome. In the second case the unexpected microscopic findings from the uterine cervix prompted examination of the breasts, where the disease was occult at imaging. Microscopic examination of the bilaterally pathologic axillary lymph nodes confirmed the diagnosis of the solid form of invasive lobular carcinoma. Conclusion: These two fatal breast cancer cases represent two different subtypes of extensive malignancies metastasizing to distant organs and having a high fatality rate. These metastases can appear in uncommon locations, as in these two cases, making determination of the true origin of the primary tumour a complex task. Thorough analysis of the histopathology findings of the metastases combined with the IHC biomarkers helped determine the site of the primary tumour. Although necessary for this determination, the same IHC biomarkers fail to predict the poor long-term outcome. Instead, the IHC biomarkers indicate a favourable prognosis and provide deceptive information for management guidance.
Keywords: Invasive lobular carcinoma, breast cancer metastases, breast cancer of mesenchymal origin, large format histopathology
©2026 Tabár, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and build upon your work non-commercially.