Background: The primary focus of breast imaging is the detection of breast cancer, which arises from the epithelium of the ducts (85%) or lobules (15%) of breast tissue. While the majority of tumors found within the breast are of breast origin, there is a small percentage of entities that do not commonly arise from breast tissue but can be encountered on standard breast imaging modalities such as mammogram and ultrasound. These zebras serve to remind us that the breast, while often regarded as a standalone organ, is still subject to pathologies that typically occur elsewhere in the human body.
Learning Objectives: 1. Review a series of rare, biopsy-proven tumors that are rarely seen in the breast, including relevant imaging and radiology-pathology correlation. 2. Briefly review the more commonly encountered presentations of these tumors outside the breast. 3. Understand the importance of pertinent medical history in suspecting a non-breast origin entity, especially for systemic processes.
Abstract Content/Results: Here we present a series of rare, biopsy-proven tumors of non-breast origin, categorized by etiology in an easy-to-understand format. - Neurogenic – granular cell tumor, glomus tumor, schwannoma - Protein deposition – amyloid - Vascular – angiosarcoma, pyogenic granuloma - Blood disorder – plasma cell neoplasm - Metastatic – melanoma
Conclusion: While the vast majority of tumors found within the breast are of breast origin, breast imagers should be aware of non-breast pathologies that can be encountered on standard breast imaging, especially in patients with relevant medical histories.
