Lymphoepithelioma-Like Carcinoma of the Breast Mimicking Granulomatous Mastitis- Case Report and Review of the Literature

Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) of the breast is an exceedingly rare variant of mammary cancer. To our knowledge, only twenty - one cases have been reported in the literature. Diagnosis of this type of mammary carcinoma may be challenging, owing to its rarity and the histopathological similarity to common inflammatory and malignant lesions of the breast mainly granulomatous mastitis, medullary carcinoma, pleomorphic lobular carcinoma, lymphoma and other hematological malignancies. Our case is the 22nd case of lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma reported in the breast, presenting with a palpable tender mass in a post-menopausal female. Her clinical picture had been mistaken for inflammatory disease. We present our case, with its detailed clinical history, radiological findings, histopathological and immune-histochemical findings along with a review of the literature. Highlighting this type of tumors may help in appropriate diagnosis. Moreover, studying the behavior of these rare neoplasms is essential to expedite treatment for this tumor type.