Non-Enhancing Malignant Lesions of the Breast: A Case Report and Review of Literature

Abstract

Due to the elusive nature of invasive lobular carcinoma, mammography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging have their limitations in early detection.A 67-year-old woman presented for mammography and found shrinkage of the right breast. Magnetic resonance imaging and contrast mammography showed no contrast uptake in the region in question.Magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound were found to be superior for the detection of invasive lobular carcinoma, with a sensitivity of more than 90%. On ultrasound examination, invasive lobular carcinoma may occur only with posterior acoustic shadowing. On breast magnetic resonance imaging, it is commonly described as an irregular mass and less commonly as non-mass enhancement. An additional advantage of magnetic resonance imaging is the higher detection rate of multifocal, multicentric, and contralateral breast lesions.The reason for no contrast enhancement in this particular tumour before neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by enhancement after neoadjuvant chemotherapy is most likely at the molecular and histologic level and requires further investigation in similar cases.

Note:

Funding Information: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Declaration of Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethics Approval Statement: This case report complies with the guidelines for human studies and includes evidence that the research was conducted ethically in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association was conducted. The patient has given written consent for publication of her case (including publication of images). Information revealing the patient's identity will be avoided, and her real name will not be mentioned. Study Approval Statement: This study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka.

Keywords: breast neoplasms, carcinoma, lobular, mammography, Magnetic resonance imaging