Breast Sarcomas: Experience of a Reference Center in Colombia

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 11; no. 7; p. e5078
• Main Authors: Vergel, Juan C, Osorio, Ana M, Garcia Mora, Mauricio, García Angulo, Óscar, Guzmán Abisaab, Luis, Cervera-Bonilla, Sergio, Diaz Casas, Sandra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Cureus Inc 04-07-2019; Cureus
• Subjects: Age; Breast cancer; Cancer therapies; Chemotherapy; Disease; Lymphatic system; Lymphedema; Mammography; Medical diagnosis; Medical prognosis; Metastasis; Mutation; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Oncology; Radiation therapy; Sarcoma; Surgery; Tumors; breast neoplasm; radiotherapy; sarcoma; chemotherapy; surgery
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.5078

Introduction  Breast sarcomas are tumors of a mesenchymal origin, with an incidence of less than 1% of the total breast tumors. The diagnosis of this disease is a challenge for pathologists, radiologists, and breast surgeons.  Aim To describe the diagnostic, therapeutic, and outcomes approach of patients with breast sarcoma treated at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bogota, Colombia.  Materials and methods It is a descriptive and retrospective case series study of patients diagnosed with breast sarcoma treated at the NCI during the period between August 1, 2016 and March 30, 2019.  Results  We identified 14 patients diagnosed with breast sarcoma, 10 (71.4%) patients with primary breast sarcomas, and four (28.6%) with sarcomas associated with radiotherapy. The most frequent histological subtype in both, primary and secondary sarcomas, was angiosarcoma (n = 5, 35.7%). 100% (n = 14) of patients received surgical management as primary treatment. Eight (57.1%) patients presented recurrence (disease-free survival (DFS) follow-up of 5.95 months). A total of five deaths were recorded, representing 35.7% of patients (overall survival (OS) follow-up of 23.5 months). Conclusion Breast sarcomas are characterized by aggressive clinical behavior, which is why it is important to make a precise histological diagnosis and thus provide patients with radical surgical procedures that ensure local control of the disease and improve DFS.