Ascites as the first sign of breast cancer – case report

Ascites (peritoneal cavity fluid) is a pathological sign occurring as a result of accumulation of exudate or transudate fluid in the peritoneal cavity. The most frequent causes of the development of ascites are: cirrhosis (approx. 80%), cancer (10%), other liver diseases which take the course with portal hypertension, chronic heart failure, nephrotic syndrome, pancreatitis and tuberculosis. Breast cancer is the most frequent carcinoma in females worldwide, and the most frequent cause of death, but ascites is its rare clinical manifestation. Metastases of breast cancer into the alimentary tract and/or peritoneum, however, are infrequent. In the presented study, we discussed difficulties related to the differential diagnostics of ascites which turned out to be the first, non-specific clinical manifestation of advanced breast cancer.