Mammary phyllodes tumor with six episodes of a relapse: a case report

BACKGROUND: Phyllodes tumor is a rare breast mass. Most phyllodes tumors are benign, but occasionally some show malignancy. Even if the tumors are benign, they can easily show recurrence. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of a 48-year-old Asian woman, who had previously undergone a tumorectomy of her left breast 12 years before, with a pathological diagnosis of fibroadenoma. Five years after the initial tumorectomy, the patient presented with an abnormally enlarged left breast. A biopsy determined the growth to be a phyllodes tumor; subsequently, a partial mastectomy was conducted. However, the patient’s left breast showed rapid enlargement in the next 5 months. The treating physicians suspected a relapse and subsequently consulted with our hospital. The breast mass was resected at our institution. After this surgery, the patient had repeated episodes of relapse and underwent four additional operations. Since then, the patient has not had any additional relapse so far. CONCLUSIONS: We present a case of a phyllodes tumor with multiple episodes of relapse. Although phyllodes tumors commonly show relapse, this case was unique because of the number of episodes of relapse. This case highlights the need to carry out tumorectomy with adequate margins with subsequent careful observation to check for relapse.