Mucinous Carcinoma of the Breast Accompanied by Coarse Calcification

Hitomi Tani, Ryusuke Murakami, Tamiko Yoshida, Keiko Yanagihara, Shinya Iida, Shinichi Tsuchiya

Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
Department Surgery for Organ Function and Biological Regulation, Graduate School of Medicine, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
Division of Diagnostic Pathology, Nippon Medical School Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/ojmi.2012.24023                

Abstract

Mucinous carcinoma of the breast has histologically distinct features and constitutes 1-3% of all breast cancers. It produces variable amounts of extracellular epithelial mucin and clinically its prognosis is far better than for other types of invasive carcinoma. On the other hand, coarse calcification is a common mammographic feature of benign tumors. There have been few reported cases of breast cancer containing coarse calcification. We present a unique 40 year-old female case of mucinous carcinoma of the breast accompanied by coarse calcification on mammography, which was mimicking fibroadenoma and an unusual variant of breast cancer. This case illustrates the importance of bearing in mind that mucinous carcinoma may demonstrate coarse calcification.

Keywords

Breast Cancer; Calcification; Mucinous Carcinoma; Mammography

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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