What happened, in summary

A 54-year-old woman was referred after a screening mammogram found a small suspicious lesion in her left breast. Biopsy showed adenoid cystic carcinoma, a rare breast-cancer type. The tumor was estrogen-receptor negative, progesterone-receptor negative, and HER2-negative, making it triple-negative.

Breast MRI initially raised concern that more than one area might be involved. She underwent nipple-sparing mastectomy with sentinel lymph node dissection. Final pathology showed classic adenoid cystic carcinoma measuring 2.5 cm, with no cancer in four sentinel lymph nodes. Final pathology classified the cancer as Stage I. One surgical margin was positive, so radiation therapy was recommended.

Her early recovery was complicated by neuropathic pain and a recurrent fluid collection. The pain eventually required neurolysis, while the fluid collection was drained several times under ultrasound guidance. By the 6-month multidisciplinary follow-up, both problems had improved. Chest imaging at that visit showed no signs of recurrence or new cancer-related complications.