Background: Bilateral breast carcinoma (BBC), though not rare, is quite an uncommon clinical situation and hence guidelines regarding its diagnosis and management are not clear enough. It can be synchronous or metachronous depending on the interval between the time of presentation in bilateral breasts.
Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed our experience with 18 cases of bilateral breast malignancies presented and treated between January 2014 and December 2019. We analyzed clinical, pathological, and immunohistochemical profiles with their management. All the patients were staged separately for both breasts and received treatment according to prescribed guidelines.
Results: Among these 18 cases, 16 were synchronous and 2 were metachronous during the presentation. During the presentation of synchronous malignancies, eight patients had stage IV disease, whereas the other eight cases were nonmetastatic. Patients received combined modality treatment by surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy depending on the stage of presentation. At a median follow-up period of 12 months, 10 (55.56%) patients were disease free, 2 (11.11%) patients had disease recurrence, and 5 (27.78%) patients succumbed to the disease, whereas 1 patient has lost follow-up.
Conclusion: Diagnosis and management of bilateral breast malignancies pose a clinical challenge to the oncologist and hence should be vigilantly looked upon. The treatment decision is individualized according to the stage and molecular type of the particular patient. Regular follow-up and judicious use of clinical breast examination and mammography can help in the early detection of second breast carcinoma.
Keywords: Bilateral breast carcinoma; bilateral chest wall radiotherapy; bilateral mastectomy; synchronous breast tumors.