CASE REPORT article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Breast Cancer
Co-existence of fibroadenoma, intraductal carcinoma and invasive ductal carcinoma in the unilateral breast mass: a case report and literature review
Provisionally accepted
- 1Thyroid and Breast Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Center, Guangzhou Medical University Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, China
- 2Department of Pathology, Guangzhou Medical University Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou, China
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ABSTACT: Background: Fibroadenoma is the most common benign breast tumor. However, the coexistence of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) within single breast fibroadenomas is rare. Case Description: A 71-year-old woman presented with a palpable mass in her left breast, and she had a history of right-side breast cancer which had been treated 16 years ago. Invasive ductal carcinoma was confirmed through core needle biopsy. She subsequently underwent left breast mastectomy with sentinel lymph node biopsy. Postoperative pathological examination revealed two fibroadenomas: the larger one coexisted with IDC and focal DCIS, and the small one coexisted with high-grade DCIS. Immunohistochemical analysis showed positive expression of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR), but negative expression of Her-2, demonstrating a Luminal B1 subtype (clinical stage IA). She had completed the adjuvant chemotherapy and currently received endocrine therapy. No recurrence was found during the follow-up examinations. Conclusion: Coexistence of fibroadenoma, DCIS and IDC in unilateral breast mass is rare, highlighting the importance of comprehensive preoperative evaluation, optimal surgical strategy and accurate histopathological examination.
Keywords: breast fibroadenoma, case report, coexistence, ductal carcinoma in situ, invasive ductal carcinoma
Received: 18 Oct 2025; Accepted: 29 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Zhong, Xu, Ye, Xu and Fan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhe Fan
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