Carcinoma of the Breast in Children

Abstract

CARCINOMA of the breast is uncommon in children and only a few cases have been reported in the literature. The exact incidence cannot be determined although some reports indicated 0.09% or less of all the mammary cancers occurred in patients under the age of 20.^1,2 In a review of 10,000 cases of breast cancer in the Memorial Hospital in New York, only seven cases were found in children,³ the youngest patient being 3 years old. Although most of the cases reported were in girls, a few breast cancers occurred in boys.⁴ In most of the cases, the main finding was a painless nodule discovered by the parents or by the physician during a routine examination. Due to the relatively small amount of breast tissue present in children, the tumor was almost always found near, although discrete from, the nipple.³ Unfortunately, breast cancer usually was not diagnosed