Pulmonary Tumor Thrombotic Microangiopathy in a Patient with Rapid Progressive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
Introduction: Pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy (PTTM) is a rare complication of metastatic carcinoma, which occurs in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, and is mostly fatal. Circulating tumor cell clusters have been recognized as critical factors during breast cancer progressio...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Karger Publishers
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Case Reports in Oncology |
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| Online Access: | https://beta.karger.com/Article/FullText/535873 |
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| author | Fiona Rudolf Albert Baschong Deniz Bilecen Nicola Aceto Marcus Vetter |
| author_facet | Fiona Rudolf Albert Baschong Deniz Bilecen Nicola Aceto Marcus Vetter |
| author_sort | Fiona Rudolf |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: Pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy (PTTM) is a rare complication of metastatic carcinoma, which occurs in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, and is mostly fatal. Circulating tumor cell clusters have been recognized as critical factors during breast cancer progression. Case Presentation: An 80-year-old woman with triple-negative breast cancer was admitted to our hospital with progressive dyspnea and lower back pain. Breast cancer treatment included mastectomy, neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy as well as adjuvant radiotherapy, receiving her last cycle of radiotherapy 8 days before death. At admission, D-dimers were strongly elevated and platelets were low. NT-pro-BNP was moderately elevated. A CT scan of the chest did not show pulmonary embolism but revealed interlobular septal thickening, centrilobular consolidation, and distension of the pulmonary arteries. Moreover, new skeletal and most likely lymphatic metastasis was described. Treatment with oxygen and oral glucocorticoids was initiated, assuming radiotherapy-induced pneumonitis. Due to low expression of PD-L1 and her markedly bad performance status, tumor-specific therapy was not possible, and the treatment regimen was changed to best supportive care. The patient died 8 days after admission. Autopsy revealed numerous events consistent with tumor emboli in the pulmonary vessels, suggesting PTTM. Conclusion: PTTM is a rare and mostly fatal complication in malignant breast cancer. As an early detection is difficult, further investigation is needed. Circulating tumor cluster cells may be one way to detect PTTM early and improve patients’ survival. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T19:39:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d68fbc04e5134ea395bb2eeb95f07683 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-6575 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T23:59:46Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Karger Publishers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Case Reports in Oncology |
| spelling | doaj.art-d68fbc04e5134ea395bb2eeb95f076832024-03-14T08:00:37ZengKarger PublishersCase Reports in Oncology1662-65752024-02-0117127728210.1159/000535873535873Pulmonary Tumor Thrombotic Microangiopathy in a Patient with Rapid Progressive Triple-Negative Breast CancerFiona Rudolf0Albert Baschong1Deniz Bilecen2Nicola Aceto3Marcus Vetter4University Clinic of Medicine, Cantonal Hospital Basel-Land, Liestal, SwitzerlandInstitute of Pathology, Cantonal Hospital Basel-Land, Liestal, SwitzerlandDepartment of Radiology, Cantonal Hospital Basel-Land, Liestal, SwitzerlandDepartment of Biology, Institute of Molecular Health Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich, Zurich, SwitzerlandUniversity Clinic of Medicine, Cantonal Hospital Basel-Land, Liestal, SwitzerlandIntroduction: Pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy (PTTM) is a rare complication of metastatic carcinoma, which occurs in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, and is mostly fatal. Circulating tumor cell clusters have been recognized as critical factors during breast cancer progression. Case Presentation: An 80-year-old woman with triple-negative breast cancer was admitted to our hospital with progressive dyspnea and lower back pain. Breast cancer treatment included mastectomy, neoadjuvant and adjuvant chemotherapy as well as adjuvant radiotherapy, receiving her last cycle of radiotherapy 8 days before death. At admission, D-dimers were strongly elevated and platelets were low. NT-pro-BNP was moderately elevated. A CT scan of the chest did not show pulmonary embolism but revealed interlobular septal thickening, centrilobular consolidation, and distension of the pulmonary arteries. Moreover, new skeletal and most likely lymphatic metastasis was described. Treatment with oxygen and oral glucocorticoids was initiated, assuming radiotherapy-induced pneumonitis. Due to low expression of PD-L1 and her markedly bad performance status, tumor-specific therapy was not possible, and the treatment regimen was changed to best supportive care. The patient died 8 days after admission. Autopsy revealed numerous events consistent with tumor emboli in the pulmonary vessels, suggesting PTTM. Conclusion: PTTM is a rare and mostly fatal complication in malignant breast cancer. As an early detection is difficult, further investigation is needed. Circulating tumor cluster cells may be one way to detect PTTM early and improve patients’ survival.https://beta.karger.com/Article/FullText/535873pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathypulmonary embolismtriple-negative breast cancercirculating tumor cells and clusters |
| spellingShingle | Fiona Rudolf Albert Baschong Deniz Bilecen Nicola Aceto Marcus Vetter Pulmonary Tumor Thrombotic Microangiopathy in a Patient with Rapid Progressive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Case Reports in Oncology pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy pulmonary embolism triple-negative breast cancer circulating tumor cells and clusters |
| title | Pulmonary Tumor Thrombotic Microangiopathy in a Patient with Rapid Progressive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer |
| title_full | Pulmonary Tumor Thrombotic Microangiopathy in a Patient with Rapid Progressive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer |
| title_fullStr | Pulmonary Tumor Thrombotic Microangiopathy in a Patient with Rapid Progressive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pulmonary Tumor Thrombotic Microangiopathy in a Patient with Rapid Progressive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer |
| title_short | Pulmonary Tumor Thrombotic Microangiopathy in a Patient with Rapid Progressive Triple-Negative Breast Cancer |
| title_sort | pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy in a patient with rapid progressive triple negative breast cancer |
| topic | pulmonary tumor thrombotic microangiopathy pulmonary embolism triple-negative breast cancer circulating tumor cells and clusters |
| url | https://beta.karger.com/Article/FullText/535873 |
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