[Radiological aspects of breast carcinoma]

X-ray patterns of breast carcinoma reflect tissue alterations and stromal reactions. These two factors are diversely represented within every tumor and, consequently, three types of picture can be observed: 75 per cent of them are complete, complex, cockarde-shaped; 20 per cent are incomplete, sketchy, hence ambiguous; the remaining 5 per cent show a totally benignant decidedly misleading image. In these difficult cases, erroneous clinical as well as radiological diagnosis is unavoidable (a non reductible rate of about 1 per cent), whenever clinical signs are unable to palliate the unreliable X-ray picture.