Primary chondrosarcoma of the breast: a rare case report

Introduction: Pure sarcomas are very uncommon tumours of the breast accounts for < 1% of all malignant breast tumours. They are a heterogenous group of malignant neoplasm arising from mammary stroma. It is important that these tumors are recognised as a separate entity from the more common breast carcinoma for planning therapy. This case report describe a case of primary breast chondrosarcoma which was treated by simple mastectomy.
Case Report: A 30 year female presented with progressive and painless left breast lump measuring 28 X 25cm, not fixed to underlying chest wall. Overlying skin was unremarkable except few prominent veins. Simple Mastectomy was done considering a clinical diagnosis of Phylloides tumor. On histopathological examination, external surface was nodular and firm in consistency. On C/s entire breast tissue was replaced by multilobulated homogenous fleshy grey white tumor mass. Microsections examined revealed oval to spindle shaped tumour cells with atypia in a chondromyxoid background. Immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of Extraskel et al Chondrosarcoma.
Conclusion:Clinical diagnosis of Chondrosarcoma is often challenging, it needs to be differentiated from phylloides tumour which has benign epithelial component. IHC plays an important role in diagnosis by excluding it from metaplastic carcinoma and malignant phylloides tumor. Patients having a high index of suspicion should undergo focused diagnostic approach to establish the early diagnosis.