Case Report

Granulocytic sarcoma of the breast without development of bone marrow involvement: a case report

Teresa A Vela-Chávez¹ , Myrna D Arrecillas-Zamora¹ , L Yolanda Quintero-Cuadra¹ and Falko Fend²

¹  Department of Pathology, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Av. San Fernando 22, Col. Sección XVI, Del. Tlalpan, CP 14080, Mexico City, Mexico

²  Department of Pathology, University of Tuebingen, Liebermeisterstr. 8, D-72076, Tuebingen, Germany

author email corresponding author email

Diagnostic Pathology 2009, 4:2doi:10.1186/1746-1596-4-2

Published:	6 January 2009

Abstract

A 29-year-old woman presented with a breast tumor with a primary diagnosis of MALT lymphoma. A repeat biopsy revealed a hematological neoplasm with diffuse, Indian file, and targetoid patterns. The cells were intermediate size with eosinophilic granules; the immunophenotyping showed monocytic differentiation, and no lymphoepithelial lesion was observed. The diagnosis was granulocytic sarcoma. Three different bone marrow biopsies were negative for neoplastic infiltration. After treatment, she developed secondary pancytopenia which contributed to her death 16 months after primary diagnosis. Granulocytic sarcoma of the breast is uncommon. A complete panel of immunohistochemistry is necessary to perform this diagnosis.