RT Journal
A1 COGSWELL HD
T1 HIdden carcinoma of the breast
JF Archives of Surgery
JO Archives of Surgery
YR 1949
FD June 1
VO 58
IS 6
SP 780
OP 789
DO 10.1001/archsurg.1949.01240030791006
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.1949.01240030791006
AB JACKSON1 has recently reported 3 cases of carcinoma of the breast in which the physical examination of the breast did not reveal the condition. In each case the complaint on the patient's admission to the hospital was the presence of an enlarged axillary lymph node. A biopsy of the nodes revealed carcinomatosis and was followed by a radical mastectomy. In his first case the mastectomy was not performed until the cancer had become apparent three years and four months after the excision of the axillary node. In the other 2 cases the biopsy was followed in a short time by mastectomy, and small primary carcinomatous lesions were found in both instances.Jackson stated: "If similar incidences have been previously observed and recorded, a cursory review of the voluminous literature on carcinoma of the breast failed to reveal it." The dearth of such reported cases is possibly indicative of the