Rationale: Breast cancer metastasis to the esophagus is uncommon. To our knowledge, the present case is the first report of breast cancer with dysphagia as the initial symptom.
Patient concerns: A 62-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for progressive dysphagia.
Diagnoses: Endoscopic ultrasound-guided fine needle biopsy of the esophageal lesion found poorly differentiated carcinoma, and surgical resection of the breast nodule revealed invasive ductal carcinoma.
Interventions: The patient underwent an esophagectomy, and the immunohistochemistry of surgical specimen was identified as metastatic breast cancer. Then patient was treated with chemotherapy and hormone therapy.
Outcomes: The patient remained symptom-free during 5 months of follow-up examinations.
Lessons: This case indicates that metastatic breast cancer to the esophagus should be considered as a cause of esophageal stricture in older women.