18F-FDG PET/CT features of ureteral metastases from breast cancer: a case report

Abstract

Breast cancer metastasis to the ureter is rare. Fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (18F-FDG PET)/computed tomography (CT) is widely used to identify primary lesions of metastatic tumours, however, 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging features of ureteral metastasis from breast cancer are rarely reported. Herein, the case of a 46-year-old woman with recurrent left flank pain for 5 months, who was admitted to the Cancer Hospital of Guangxi Medical University and Guangxi Cancer Research Institute, is described. She had undergone right radical mastectomy 5 years previously and had received tamoxifen treatment for 5 years. Assessment by 18F-FDG PET/CT revealed tumours on the ureter presenting as a long segmental lesion, radioactive concentrations, and a low maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), with no radioactive concentrations in the urine and no significant change in the ureteral contour. The severity of the ureteral lesion was not consistent with the severity of hydronephrosis. A tumour biopsy was performed laparoscopically, and postoperative pathological examination confirmed a primary breast cancer tumour. The patient did not consent to treatment and was lost to follow-up.