Evidence Hub

Rare metastasis of renal cell carcinoma to the breast: a case report

A. Sahoo, Bhuvi Singh, Monther Salman, Lilia Ragad, R. Elayyan

Oxford Medical Case Reports, 2025

3 citations

Abstract

Abstract Renal cell carcinoma is an aggressive urological malignancy, accounting for 2%–3% of adult cancers and over 90% of renal cancers. While renal cell carcinoma commonly metastasizes to organs such as the lungs, bones, and liver, breast metastasis is rare, comprising only 0.5% to 2% of all breast neoplasms. This case report describes a 54-year-old female with a history of RCC who developed a metastatic lesion in her breast six years after radical nephrectomy. The lesion, initially detected via routine imaging, was confirmed as renal cell carcinoma through histopathology and immunohistochemistry. A wide local excision was performed, avoiding unnecessary axillary surgery. This case highlights the need for meticulous diagnostic evaluation to distinguish between primary breast carcinoma and metastatic disease, particularly in patients with a history of renal cell carcinoma. The rarity of renal cell carcinoma metastasis to the breast calls for further research to guide appropriate management.

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a case report, done in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free