The Challenges of Approaching a Giant Breast Mass: A Case Report With Literature Review

The classical clinical approach to any breast lesion is through the triple assessment: clinical, radiological, and pathological. However, with giant breast masses, the classical assessment might have limitations in revealing the diagnosis. We report a case of a rapidly growing left breast mass in a 60-year-old woman. In a short period of time, the lesion reached a giant size of 48 cm x 43 cm with mixed constructure and skin changes. The lesion was considered malignant by triple assessment, but the core needle biopsy could not reach a single pathological diagnosis. Giant breast masses are a rare entity of breast lesions that include different benign and malignant diseases. These diseases include malignant forms of breast sarcomas, phyllodes, and leiomyosarcomas, which are aggressive diseases requiring combative management. Diagnosing a giant breast tumor is challenging and demands a high level of suspicion. The classical approach may fail, raising the need for a special approach for such lesions. The adjusted guidelines may involve early multidisciplinary team involvement, advanced imaging, precise biopsy techniques, and earlier neoadjuvant therapy planning.

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Publication Details

Journal
Cureus
Published
2025-01-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.77839
Primary Topic
Breast Lesions and Carcinomas
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

The Challenges of Approaching a Giant Breast Mass: A Case Report With Literature Review

Saarah Ebrahim, Ahmed A Almass, Fozan Aldulaijan, Abdulhamid A Alarbash
Cureus
Breast Lesions and Carcinomas
article

The Challenges of Approaching a Giant Breast Mass: A Case Report With Literature Review

Saarah Ebrahim, Ahmed A Almass, Fozan Aldulaijan, Abdulhamid A Alarbash
article en

Abstract

The classical clinical approach to any breast lesion is through the triple assessment: clinical, radiological, and pathological. However, with giant breast masses, the classical assessment might have limitations in revealing the diagnosis. We report a case of a rapidly growing left breast mass in a 60-year-old woman. In a short period of time, the lesion reached a giant size of 48 cm x 43 cm with mixed constructure and skin changes. The lesion was considered malignant by triple assessment, but the core needle biopsy could not reach a single pathological diagnosis. Giant breast masses are a rare entity of breast lesions that include different benign and malignant diseases. These diseases include malignant forms of breast sarcomas, phyllodes, and leiomyosarcomas, which are aggressive diseases requiring combative management. Diagnosing a giant breast tumor is challenging and demands a high level of suspicion. The classical approach may fail, raising the need for a special approach for such lesions. The adjusted guidelines may involve early multidisciplinary team involvement, advanced imaging, precise biopsy techniques, and earlier neoadjuvant therapy planning.

CureusVol. 17(1)
Cairo University (EG), King Fahd Hospital of the University (SA), King Fahad Specialist Hospital (SA), Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (SA)
Gender equality
Openalex Percentile: Top 98%
Breast Lesions and Carcinomas
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