Metastatic Recurrent Breast Cancer Identified in the Chiropractic Office: Case Report and Literature Review

04 September 2022: Articles

Unusual clinical course, Challenging differential diagnosis, Unusual or unexpected effect of treatment

Eric Chun-Pu Chu ^A , Robert J. Trager ^C* , Colin Ritchie Lai ^A , John Sing Fai Shum ^B

DOI: 10.12659/AJCR.937609

Am J Case Rep 2022; 23:e937609

Table 1. Patients with undiagnosed breast cancer metastasis presenting to a chiropractor.

Author	Year	Patient age (years)	Symptoms	Breast cancer history	Initial means of diagnosis	Region(s) of skeletal metastasis*
Boysen	2016	44	LBP with radiation to hip	Yes. In remission for 3 years. Further details unclear	MRI (region unclear)	Acetabulum
Conley	1983	54	Shoulder & arm pain	Yes. Mastectomy 5 years prior	Thoracic & lumbar radiographs	Ilium, thoracic spine, hip
Current case	2022	41	LBP and leg pain	Yes, 3 years prior. Had mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation. Remission >6 months	Lumbar MRI	L5
Grilliot	1983	76	Mid-thoracic pain	Yes, 7 years prior. Had mastectomy	Chest and thoracic radiographs	T9, T10
Grod	1994	46	LBP with radiation to leg	Yes, 2 years prior. Had mastectomy, normal bone scans	Lumbar radiographs	L2
Kahn	2017	27	LBP, lack of response to care	No	Lumbar MRI	L1, L2
Kanga	2015	65	Cervical, mid-thoracic, and LBP, pressure in head	Yes, 4 years prior. Treated with chemotherapy, recent negative whole-body CT	PCP referral & subsequent brain MRI, CT thorax	T9, L1
Osterhouse	2004	80	Lower extremity pain, fatigue, anorexia	Yes, 12 years ago. Reportedly in remission. Further details unclear	Cancer antigen 27–29, ankle radiographs	Ankle
^* Region of skeletal metastasis upon presentation to the chiropractor. CT – computed tomography; F – Female; LBP – low back pain; MRI – magnetic resonance imaging; M – male; NR – not reported; PCP – primary care provider.