Tuberculosis axillary lymph node coexistent breast cancer in adjuvant treatment: case report

• Main Authors: Silvio Eduardo Bromberg, Paulo Gustavo Tenório do Amaral
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Israelita de Ensino e Pesquisa Albert Einstein
• Series: Einstein (São Paulo)
• Subjects: Tuberculose dos linfonodos; Axila/patologia; Neoplasias da mama/diagnóstico; Neoplasias da mama/terapia; Quimioterapia adjuvante; Relatos de casos
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1679-45082015000300423&lng=en&tlng=en
• ISSN: 2317-6385

Coexistence of breast cancer and tuberculosis is rare. In most cases, involvement by tuberculosis occurs in axillary lymph nodes. We report a case of a 43-years-old patient who had undergone adenomastectomy and left sentinel lymph node biopsy due to a triple negative ductal carcinoma. At the end of adjuvant treatment, the patient had an atypical lymph node in the left axilla. Lymph node was excised, and after laboratory analysis, the diagnosis was ganglion tuberculosis. The patient underwent treatment for primary tuberculosis. The development of these two pathologies can lead to problems in diagnosis and treatment. An accurate diagnosis is important to avoid unnecessary surgical procedures.