What happened, in summary

A 49-year-old woman had a 5 mm mass detected by screening mammography in the upper outer left breast. Biopsy showed grade 1 invasive ductal carcinoma that was ER-positive, PR-positive, and HER2-negative.

She underwent left lumpectomy with placement of a BioZorb marker, and sentinel-node biopsy was negative. Postoperative radiation followed. The treated breast was then monitored with mammography every six months.

Two and a half years after surgery, surveillance imaging found a new mass along the lower edge of the BioZorb site in the axillary tail, with a corresponding ultrasound finding. Because a new mass near a lumpectomy bed can represent recurrence, tissue sampling was performed. Biopsy instead showed foreign material surrounded by histiocytes, giant cells, and lymphocytes, consistent with a reaction to the surgical site rather than cancer.

A mammogram six months later showed only postoperative and post-biopsy changes, with no mammographic evidence of malignancy. Her course illustrates how tissue reaction around a BioZorb device can resemble a new breast-cancer mass during surveillance.