Disappearance Of A Secondary Carcinoma Without Extirpation
International Journal of Surgery 26: May 1913; 156157
View Original Source →Abstract
A case is presented in which the patient has remained well for many years following the surgical excision of a secondary metastases of breast carcinoma. In his discussion of this case the author refers to an article by Deaver in the March 19, 1913, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, in which Deaver found that, of mammary cancer treated by radical operation, not more than one in five patients is cured. The author comments that “taking the work of the surgical world in general this proportion is doubtless much too high. When we have to deal with recurrences, relapses or metastases in this form of carcinoma the number of actual cures must indeed be very small.”
Case Details
Personal Characteristics
Mrs. X., 58-years-old, mother of five children
Clinical Characteristics
Suffered for years with symptoms pointing to cholelithiasis, tumor of the right mamma, a nodule the size of a large filbert just in front of the anterior axillary line at the level of the seventh or eighth rib
Remission Characteristics
The wound healed with a resulting soft cicatrix, and the patient has remained well for years with no local relapse or metastasis
Treatment & Mechanisms
Proposed Remission Mechanisms
Not discussed
Clinical Treatment
Surgical excision of a secondary metastases of breast carcinoma, removal of gallbladder, radical amputation of mamma and axillary contents together with the large and small pectoral muscles, removal of the main portion of the tumor
Non-Clinical Treatment
Hypodermatic injection of thymus gland emulsion
Additional Notes
The patient's son, a physician, urged operation due to fear of malignant degeneration from gallstone irritation. The patient remained well for three years after the gallbladder removal before presenting a tumor of the right mamma. After the radical amputation, the patient presented a nodule at the level of the seventh or eighth rib one and one-half years later. The wound from the removal of the tumor was treated by “fulguration” and healed with a resulting soft cicatrix. The patient has remained well for years with no local relapse or metastasis.