Spinal chondrosarcoma following adenocarcinoma of the breast: Case report

BACKGROUND Chest wall chondrosarcomas have been reported rarely in breast cancer patie nts treated with chest wall radiation therapy. However, there are no prior reports of spinal chondrosarcomas arising in patients with a history of bre ast adenocarcinoma. CASE DESCRIPTION A neurologically intact 53-year-old woman with breast adenocarcinoma and ne w onset back pain was evaluated. Magnetic resonance imaging of the spine re vealed a tumor of the posterior elements of T7, impinging upon the spinal c ord. A computed tomography guided needle biopsy of the spinal mass failed t o yield diagnostic results. The patient underwent an open surgical biopsy a nd complete excision of a low-grade chondrosarcoma. The patient's thoracic pain resolved after surgical excision of her thoracic tumor. She remained n eurologically intact. Pathological examination of the tumor revealed a low- grade chondrosarcoma. CONCLUSION We present the first reported case of chondrosarcoma of the spine arising i n a patient with a history of breast adenocarcinoma without prior irradiati on. Solitary spinal tumors in patients with breast adenocarcinoma should no t be assumed to be metastatic lesions, and chondrosarcoma should be include d in the differential diagnosis of spinal lesions in this patient populatio n. Experimentally, chondrosarcomas have been shown to be sensitive to circu lating levels of estrogens, and this might explain an association with aden ocarcinoma of the breast treated with tamoxifen, (C) 2000 by Elsevier Scien ce Inc.