@article{3343245,
    title = "A Rare Case of Primary Carcinosarcoma of the Breast",
    author = "Kiakou, M. and Tolia, M. and Koufopoulos, N. and Tsapakidis, K. and Arvanitou, E. and Konstantinos, G. and Charalambakis, N. and Nikolaou, M. and Matthaios, D. and Tsoukalas, N.",
    journal = "Forum of Clinical Oncology",
    year = "2023",
    publisher = "De Gruyter Open Ltd",
    issn = "1792-345X, 1792-362X",
    doi = "10.2478/fco-2022-0006",
    abstract = "Breast carcinosarcoma is a rare malignancy accounting for approximately 0.08-0.2% of all breast tumours. It is a type of metaplastic mammary carcinoma displaying biphasic differentiation with epithelial and mesenchymal cellular characteristics with probable derivation from myoepithelial cells. A 65-year-old woman presented to our hospital with a two-month history of a rapidly growing mass in her left breast. Neither her medical nor family history was positive for malignancies. Subsequently, she underwent a fine needle aspiration, which was positive for adenocarcinoma, followed by a lumpectomy with axillary lymph node dissection. The histology revealed an undifferentiated neoplasm and the immunohistochemical cell staining was positive for pan-cytokeratin, SMA, Vimentin, and S-100, suggesting the diagnosis of breast carcinosarcoma with a triple-negative immunophenotype. There was no evidence of metastasis except for a positive lymph node, indicating a stage IIIA disease. Thus, she received adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy. However, 16 months later, she presented with metastatic disease, and unfortunately, she died 4 months later due to a systemic infection. Aggressive behavior, higher staging, chemoresistance, and higher proportion of triple negative breast cancer seem to be the main characteristics of breast carcinosarcoma, which is recognised as a separate entity from common invasive ductal carcinoma, with significantly worse clinical outcomes. © 2023 Maria Kiakou et al., published by Sciendo 2023."
}