The radiological appearances of invasive cribriform carcinoma of the breast. Nottingham Breast Team

Clin Radiol. 1994 Oct;49(10):693-5. doi: 10.1016/s0009-9260(05)82662-5.

Abstract

Invasive cribriform carcinoma (ICC) of the breast is characterized by a cribriform histological architecture. It is rare, accounting for 0.6% of breast cancers in Nottingham and has an excellent prognosis. Its radiological features have not been previously described. Preoperative mammograms were available in eight cases (6 symptomatic, 2 screen-detected) and preoperative ultrasound examinations in four. The tumour was mammographically occult in four (50%) cases. The four tumours which were visible on mammography all showed as a large (20-35 mm) spiculated mass and two contained a few flecks of punctate calcification. The ultrasound appearances were not entirely typical of breast carcinoma. Three of four showed an ill-defined, inhomogeneous solid mass, but without the distal acoustic attenuation found in 60-97% of other forms of breast carcinoma. We conclude that ICC has imaging characteristics distinct from tubular carcinoma, which is its closest histological analogue.

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / diagnostic imaging*
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology
  • Aged
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Mammography
  • Middle Aged
  • Ultrasonography, Mammary