Benign Phyllodes Tumor in Children: A Study of 8 Cases and Review of the Literature

Phyllodes tumor (PT) occurs predominantly in middle-aged women, and although its occurrence in young women, adolescents, and even children is documented, presentation in the pediatric population has been the least well studied because of its rarity. Incompletely defined in children with PT are recurrence rates and optimal surgical management. We retrospectively studied the pathology database of Hartford Hospital from 2010 to 2017 to find all cases of PT in patients 18 years of age or younger. A series of 8 children/adolescents with breast masses diagnosed as benign PT were identified. Patients were 14 to 16 years of age (mean 15.2 y) and tumor size ranged from 2.2 to 7.2 cm (mean 4.4 cm). Both breasts were equally affected. All patients were treated with excision, tantamount to simple enucleation in most cases, and positive or "tumor-abutting" margins were universal. Mean follow-up after surgery was 27.5 months, during which time a single recurrence (at 9 mo) became manifest, which was re-excised and again showed benign PT. There were no pathologic features (including marginal status) that could have predicted the sole recurrence. Despite positive margins, the local recurrence rate for pediatric benign PT appears acceptably low (1 in 8 cases) such that reflex re-excision is probably unnecessary.