The relationship of mammographic microcalcification to histologic malignancy: radiologic-pathologic correlation

Forty consecutive cases of nonpalpable breast carcinoma presenting on the mammogram as microcalcifications without an associated mass were reviewed. The precise relationship between the mammographic microcalcification and the histologic carcinoma was determined in each case. In 25 cases (63%), the mammographic calcium was confined to the tumor, and in 13 cases (33%), the calcification was present both within the tumor and contiguous to the tumor margin. In two cases (5%), the calcium was not contained within the tumor but was located next to it. In one of these cases, the calcium was within 4 mm of the malignant neoplasm and in the other it was within 13 mm. No difference was seen between the appearance of the calcifications located within the tumor and the appearance of calcification next to the tumor. Precise histologic analysis revealed that microcalcifications that had prompted biopsy were confined to the tumor in 63%, within and contiguous to the tumor in 32%, and within 13 mm of the tumor in 5%.