Case presentation

A 33-year-old Chinese female was admitted to a local hospital with a 20-day history of a painful lump in her right breast. Breast ultrasonography and mammography revealed a 2-cm irregular solid lesion in the breast. Previous exposure to radioactive or chemical substances and a history of extremity oedema were denied. A diagnosis of invasive carcinoma was made based on intraoperative frozen sections, and the patient underwent a right modified radical mastectomy in June 2009. A pathological examination revealed a high-grade invasive carcinoma with negative margins and axillary lymph nodes. The patient rejected postoperative adjuvant therapy. In February 2010 (8 months following the operation), the patient returned to the same hospital with a rapidly growing nodule at the original surgical site, measuring 1.5×0.8 cm. She subsequently underwent a lumpectomy, and a histological diagnosis of haemangioma was rendered. Unfortunately, a new mass measuring 1×0.8 cm emerged along the surgical scar 6 months later. The patient underwent a new lumpectomy with wider margins.

Our department received the consultation slides from the peripheral hospital. Microscopy of the third lesion revealed an ill-defined tumour infiltrating the adipose tissue and dermis. The neoplasm was composed of predominantly solid areas with spindle cell morphology showing marked cytological atypia (figure 1 …