Unusual Breast Masses. The sequential development of mammary tuberculosis and Hodgkin's disease in a young woman

A left breast mass developed in association with pulmonary tuberculosis in a woman 26 years of age. Eight years later, rapidly fatal Hodgkin's Disease with chest wall erosion by involved mediastinal nodes simulating a breast lump developed. Subsequently, a discrete breast mass due to mammary Hodgkin's disease developed. Involvement of the breast by both tuberculosis and Hodgkin's disease, two diseases often associated with immune dysfunction, in a patient with dysmorphic features and a strong family history of tuberculosis, raises the possibility of an underlying genetic defect. This defect probably involves the immune system.