Sternal resection for recurrent breast cancer: a cautionary tale

The occurrence of a solitary sternal metastasis from breast cancer is relatively uncommon, and its treatment is controversial. Most case reports on the role of sternal resection in what is termed a “solitary sternal metastasis” tend to present a rather optimistic outcome. Here, we report the case of a premenopausal woman with axillary lymph node–positive, triple-negative breast cancer treated with mastectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy. She developed a radiologically isolated sternal recurrence 3 years later, which was treated with partial sternectomy. The present case report reviews the use of sternectomy for breast cancer recurrence and highlights the need for thorough clinical and radiologic evaluation to ensure the absence of other systemic disease before extensive surgery is undertaken.