Orbital Metastasis from Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Case Report and Literature Review

Abstract

Orbital metastases are rare. Breast cancer represents the first etiology to be evoked in carcinomas. We report a rare case of a young 43-year-old patient who developed significant orbital metastasis 2 months after the end of adjuvant treatment for triple-negative breast cancer. Good partial response was shown with an improvement of symptoms under chemotherapy (docetaxel combined with carboplatin), zoledronic acid and palliative radiotherapy. The patient quickly progressed in the pulmonary, hepatic and lymph nodes with mucocutaneous jaundice related to hepatic dysfunction after which she died within 20 days. Different etiologies are responsible for the orbital tumor syndrome. This orbital metastasis may constitute an inaugural mode of expression of the tumor affection. The frequency of metastases of breast cancer overexpressing estrogen receptor can be explained biologically by the presence of estrogen receptors in hormone acting as target choroid tissue steroids for lacrimal secretion. On the other hand, in triple-negative breast cancer, since the hormone receptors are negative, the pathophysiology of these orbital metastases remains unknown. At this stage, the treatment remains palliative, including radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and bisphosphonates, and the prognosis is grim.