Ovarian cancer metastatic to the breast

Background. Metastatic ovarian cancer to the breast should be considered in the differential diagnosis for gynecologic cancer patients with a breast tumor. Despite early detection and treatment, the long-term prognosis for these patients is poor. Cases. We present three ovarian cancer patients who developed metastatic ovarian cancer to the breast. All patients were heavily pre-treated prior to the development of metastatic disease. Currently, one patient is alive at 64 months following initial detection of her metastatic disease to the breast. The second and third patients are also alive for 30 and 3 months subsequent to their diagnosis of metastatic disease. Conclusion. Although metastatic ovarian cancer to the breast following treatment for ovarian cancer is rare and associated with a poor prognosis, oncology physicians should be prepared to contend with disease metastatic to the breast. Additional investigation into the efficacy of surgery and novel chemotherapy agents is warranted. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.