THE RADIOLOGICAL APPEARANCES OF INVASIVE CRIBRIFORM CARCINOMA OF THE BREAST

Invasive cribriform carcinoma (ICC) of the breast is characterized by a cribriform histological architecture. It is rare, accounting for 0.6 % of breast cancers in Nottingham and has an excellent prognosis. Its radiological features have not been previously described. Preoperative mammograms were available in eight cases (6 symptomatic, 2 screen-det ected) and preoperative ultrasound examinations in four. The tumour wa s mammographically occult in four (50%) eases. The four tumours which were visible on mammography all showed as a large (20-35 mm) spiculate d mass and two contained a few flecks of punctate calcification. The u ltrasound appearances were not entirely typical of breast carcinoma. T hree of four showed an ill-defined, inhomogeneous solid mass, but with out the distal acoustic attenuation found in 60-97% of other forms of breast carcinoma. We conclude that ICC has imaging characteristics dis tinct from tubular carcinoma, which is its closest histological analog ue.