Unusual case of dorsal vertebral metastases from a male breast cancer

Introduction: Breast cancer is a malignant neoplasm arising from mammary glands and is a rare entity in the male patient. Spine is a common site for skeletal metastases. Case presentation: A 53-years-old male was admitted to our Neurosurgical unit because of an untreatable dorsal pain. He had been treated 3 years before for breast cancer. A dorsal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) evidenced pathological masses at T8 level. A total body Computed Tomography (CT) scan revealed lungs and liver metastases. After a multidisciplinary consult, a posterior T8 decompression, a radiofrequency thermoablation in T8 vertebral body followed by screws and rods fixation (T7-T9) was performed. Post-operative course was uneventful and the patient experienced a significant improvement of dorsal pain. Cycles of adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy followed. After 8 months, patient is still alive and in good general conditions but a spine MRI revealed a rapid and widespread diffusion of ostelytic metastases. Conclusion: Despite the high incidence of breast cancer metastases to the spine, very few clinical reports (just eight, whose only one treated surgically) in the literature deal specifically with metastases from male breast cancer, which is rarer and with a worst prognosis than female counterpart. In spite of the poor course, surgery still plays a role in treating these kind of malignancies and in improving quality of life.