AccScience Publishing / TD / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/TD025280063
CASE REPORT

Challenges in the diagnosis and management of primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast: A case report

Prabhjeet Singh Bathla1 Surjeet K. Dwivedi2 Ayjaz Hussain3 Sankalp Singh4* Malavika Shaji5
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1 Department of Radiation Oncology, Command Hospital Air Force, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
2 Department of Surgical Oncology, Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, Maharashtra, India
3 Department of Surgery, Command Hospital Air Force, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
4 Army Medical Corps, Military Hospital Kargil, Kargil, Ladakh, India
5 Department of Pathology, Command Hospital Air Force, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Tumor Discovery, 025280063 https://doi.org/10.36922/TD025280063
Received: 11 July 2025 | Revised: 21 September 2025 | Accepted: 14 October 2025 | Published online: 7 November 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast (NECB) is a rare and aggressive malignancy, accounting for <1% of all breast cancer cases. This report describes the case of a 60-year-old postmenopausal woman who presented with a painless mass in her left breast. Clinical examination and imaging revealed an irregular lesion classified as Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System V. The patient underwent breast-conserving surgery along with axillary lymph node dissection. Histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of invasive neuroendocrine carcinoma (pT2N1a). The tumor cells were positive for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, synaptophysin, and GATA binding protein 3 but negative for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2/neu). Adjuvant treatment included chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapy. This case highlights the diagnostic challenges and management strategies associated with this rare condition, emphasizing the critical role of histopathological and immunohistochemical evaluations in achieving an accurate diagnosis. Due to the rarity of NECB, treatment protocols are typically extrapolated from those used for invasive ductal carcinoma, underscoring the need for further research to establish optimal management strategies.

Keywords
Neuroendocrine neoplasm
Breast cancer
Invasive carcinoma
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Tumor Discovery, Electronic ISSN: 2810-9775 Print ISSN: 3060-8597, Published by AccScience Publishing