Pleomorphic adenoma of breast: a radiological and pathological study of a common tumor in an uncommon location

Pleomorphic adenoma occurs commonly in the major salivary glands but is uncommonly encountered in the breast. In both of these locations, the tumor is typically grossly circumscribed and has a "mixed" histological appearance, being composed of myoepithelial and epithelial components amid a myxochondroid matrix. Herein, we report a case of pleomorphic adenoma of the breast which was preoperatively thought to represent a fibroadenoma on clinical and radiological grounds. It is the rarity of the tumor in the breast, rather than its histological appearance, that causes diagnostic difficulty.