What happened, in summary

A woman diagnosed in 2015 with right breast invasive lobular carcinoma had an ER-positive, PR-positive, HER2-negative tumor with associated ductal carcinoma in situ. She was 55 when she later presented with a chest-wall skin problem in 2022.

Breast-cancer treatment included bilateral nipple-sparing mastectomies with right sentinel lymph node biopsy, followed by radiation to the right chest wall and regional lymph nodes. Reconstruction was complicated by infection and required several later procedures. She also received long-term hormone therapy with tamoxifen, completing 10 years of treatment in October 2025.

More than six years after radiation, she developed an erythematous, thickened plaque within the previously treated chest wall. Biopsy showed radiation-induced morphea rather than recurrent cancer, lymphoma, or another radiation-associated malignancy. The skin condition improved with anti-inflammatory treatment and later reconstructive revision. At follow-up in March 2026, more than 10 years after her breast cancer diagnosis, she remained free of oncologic recurrence.