A rare and unusual case of bilateral, axillary, metachronous apocrine carcinoma

Apocrine carcinoma is a rare sweat gland neoplasm with very few cases reported in the published literature. We report a case of primary axillary apocrine carcinoma with later recurrences in both axillae. A 55-year-old man was clinically diagnosed with hydradenitis suppurativa in the right axilla, and after excision of lesion, histology showed metastatic adenocarcinoma of probable breast origin. However, no primary focus was found after extensive work-up except for metastatic lymph nodes in the ipsilateral axilla treated with axillary clearance. After 4 years, the patient developed metastatic lymph nodes in the contralateral axilla and had surgery. He had a further recurrence in the right axilla and was treated with surgery and radiotherapy. He continues to do well at this time, with no evidence of local or distant metastases.