GATA-3 expression in a de-differentiated chondrosarcoma with cutaneous iatrogenic implantation: a diagnostic pitfall...

De-differentiated chondrosarcoma (DDCS) is an extremely aggressive tumor of the bone characterized by a high-grade, non-chondroid sarcoma adjacent to a low- or intermediate-grade chondrosarcoma. Adequate tumor sampling demonstrating the biphasic features is necessary to make an accurate diagnosis. The diagnosis may be challenging as histopathology may mimic other neoplasms. We present a case of a 76-year-old woman with a history of breast cancer who presented with a pathologic non-displaced fracture. A bone biopsy demonstrated a high-grade neoplasm composed of pleomorphic spindled and epithelioid cells with focal expression of AE1/3 and GATA3, most likely consistent with metastatic breast carcinoma. After a difficult clinical course, the tumor was resected demonstrating a similar morphology to her prior biopsy, as well as an area of a low-grade cartilaginous neoplasm consistent with chondrosarcoma. The biphasic tumor alongside a low-grade chondrosarcoma allowed for a diagnosis of DDCS. Several days after her procedure, the patient developed violaceous nodules overlying and surrounding the surgical site. Skin biopsy demonstrated a malignant epithelioid neoplasm with identical histomorphologic features identical to her prior bone resection. Given the location of the skin lesions directly within the surgical site right after resection, the clinical-pathological picture was that of sarcomatosis cutis by iatrogenic cutaneous implantation.