Abstract
Although much emphasis has been placed on the primary presentations of breast cancer, little focus has been placed on how systemic illnesses may affect the breast. In this article, we discuss systemic illnesses that can manifest in the breast. We summarize the clinical features, imaging, histopathology, and treatment recommendations for endocrine, vascular, systemic inflammatory, infectious, and hematologic diseases, as well as for the extramammary malignancies that can present in the breast. Despite the rarity of these manifestations of systemic disease, knowledge of these conditions is critical to the appropriate evaluation and treatment of patients presenting with breast symptoms.
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, for their support. We would also like to acknowledge Carol Reynolds, MD, Division of Anatomic Pathology, Mayo Clinic, for her kind assistance.
Disclosure
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.