Primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast

Purpose: Primary neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast (NECB) is a rare distinct type of breast carcinoma. There are only some case reports on this topic published in the past. There is still little known on the optimal treatment outcomes, while a wide variety of treatments is proposed by several authors. In this study we searched the literature on NECB in PubMed to clarify its prognosis and possible optimal therapeutic strategies. Methods: Eighty-six cases of primary NEC, included our case, were collected from PubMed between 1980 and 2013. Initial stage, estrogen receptor (ER/progesterone receptor (PR)/ human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2), surgical procedures, adjuvant treatment and overall survive (OS) were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, v 16.0). Results: All 86 patients enrolled were eligible. Their mean age at diagnosis was 53.9 years (range 25-83) and 1 case was in a male. Overall survival (OS) at 48 months was 83.5%. Patients with enlarged tumor size (10 patients with tumor size >5.0 cm) or advanced stage (stage III 15 patients, stage IV 2 patients) had poor OS (48-month OS: 51.4 vs 97.1% with tumors >5cm vs