Stability of malignant breast microcalcifications.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To determine the frequency of stability in malignant microcalcifications and its relationship to specific histologic diagnoses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: During a 34-month period, microcalcifications were proved malignant in 182 patients referred for needle-guided biopsy. In 105 patients, the mammograms were compared with one or more than one previous mammogram. These patients were classified on the basis of interval change in two groups those with stable and those with increasing or new microcalcifications. The histologic diagnoses were reviewed. RESULTS: Microcalcifications were stable for 8-63 months (mean, 25.4 months) in 26 patients (24.8%), only three (12%) of whom had invasive ductal carcinoma, which was found in 29 (37%) of the 79 patients with increasing or new microcalcifications. CONCLUSION: The odds for presence of invasive ductal carcinoma are statistically significantly lower (P < .025) among patients with stable microcalcifications than among those with increasing or new microcalcifications. Stability of indeterminate or suspicious microcalcifications is unreliable for exclusion of a diagnosis of malignancy.