[Locally advanced breast cancer with a good response to sequential endocrine monotherapy--a case report]

An 81-year-old woman with a right breast tumor exposed through the skin surface visited our clinic in June 2004. Pathological findings of the resected tumor specimen indicated invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast,positive ER/PgR status,and negative HER 2/neu status. The enlarged right axillary lymph nodes were palpable. Ultrasonography and computed tomography revealed that the tumor invaded the chest wall without any metastasis to remote organs. On July 5, 2004, we started anastrozole treatment. Its effects were confirmed in the first month,and the treatment was continued for 8 months. Substituting anastrozole with exemestane was not effective. However, the exposed part of the tumor completely responded to tamoxifen that was administered for 2 months. The effect of tamoxifen continued until February 2006, and most of the subcutaneous part of the tumor became nonpalpable. Thus, sequential endocrine monotherapy proved useful for an elderly woman with locally advanced breast cancer.