J Korean Rheum Assoc.
2003 Dec;10(4):451-455.
A Case of Breast Cancer Recurrence Presenting as Dermatomyositis
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Internal Medicine, Inha University Hospital, Incheon, Korea. moonhlmd@inha.ac.kr
Abstract
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Dermatomyositis (DM) is an autoimmune disorder characterized by inflammatory muscular and cutaneous disease. DM may present before, during, or after the appearance of malignancies. There have been two reported cases of DM associated with breast cancer in Korea. But there is no reported case of DM associated primary cancer recurrence. We describe the first case of DM associated with breast cancer recurrence in Korea.A 50-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of proximal muscle weakness and multiple skin rashes. She had undergone a mastectomy, adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy for left breast cancer 25 months ago and thereafter no physical or radiology evidence of recurrent breast cancer appeared clinically. She was finally diagnosed as having recurrent breast cancer with DM. This case emphasizes the importance of evaluation for recurrence of previous malignancy with newly developed DM patient.