Keywords:
Pathology, Epidemiology, Cancer, Statistics, Screening, Outcomes analysis, Mammography, Oncology, Breast
Authors:
L. Sturesdotter1, H. Sartor2, M. Sandsveden1, K. Johnson2, S. Zackrisson1; 1Malmö/SE, 2Lund/SE
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2019/C-1178
Aims and objectives
Mammography is a fundamental part of breast cancer diagnosis.
The images hold crucial information but their full potential is not yet used in clinical practice.
In addition,
pathological outcome parameters such as tumour size,
histologic tumour type,
molecular receptor status,
and axillary lymph node involvement are essential in clinical decision-making.
Previous studies have investigated how mammographic tumour features correlate to pathological outcome and survival and they have shown that certain tumour features may harbour prognostic information.
For example,
tumours with fine linear branching calcifications (casting-type) have worse prognosis1 while spiculation indicates invasiveness but at the same time better survival rate2,3.
In a fairly large study the presence of calcifications was more frequent in tumours that overexpressed human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2).
Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) on the other hand rarely presented with calcifications,
instead these tumours were most likely to be associated with a mammographic mass4.
Molecular breast cancer subtypes are frequently used in breast cancer management5.
Mammographic tumour features in relation to molecular subtypes has not been thoroughly studied.
Our aim was hence to further investigate the relationship between mammographic tumour features,
immunohistochemical (IHC) profile,
and molecular breast cancer subtypes.