GRANULAR-CELL TUMORS OF THE BREAST - A REPORT OF 2 CASES

Granular cell tumors (GCT) are rare neoplasms, and only 173 cases of b enign GCT of the breast have been documented, We report herein the cas es of two patients with this tumor and discuss the methods of diagnosi s and treatment. The first patient was a 60-year-old woman who present ed with a firm ill-defined mass in her left breast. Mammography showed a dense shadow with spicula and skin thickness, and ultrasonography r evealed a hypoechoic mass with an irregular border. Radical mastectomy was performed under the wrong preoperative diagnosis of breast cancer . The second patient was a 31-year-old woman who presented with an ela stic-hard mass in her left breast. Mammography showed a well-demarcate d dense mass, and ultrasonography revealed a well-defined hypoechoic m ass with a large depth-width ratio. Fine-needle aspiration cytology (F NAC) showed a large number of histiocytic cells with abundant granular cytoplasm. An excisional biopsy was performed, and histological exami nation confirmed a diagnosis of GCT. GCT is benign, but often misdiagn osed as breast cancer both clinically and radiologically. Therefore, h istological examination is essential for making a correct diagnosis, w hile FNAC is also useful. Local resection is still the treatment of ch oice, and surgeons should do their utmost to avoid performing needless radical mastectomy.