This is for informational purposes only...
For the first time, this small, but crucial study seemingly documents the huge 70% risk of ADH and/or early staged cancer found with Clustered micro-calcifications in High Risk women. For those doing surveillance, this study demonstrates the importance of vigilant screenings using ALL diagnostic tools currently available.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19350360?ordinalpos=13&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed
BACKGROUND: Abnormal screening mammographic findings are the most common presentation of ductal carcinoma in situ, which usually appears as a cluster of microcalcifications. No report has documented the risk of malignancy between the finding of a cluster of microcalcifications and women with high risk of breast cancer.
METHODS: We investigated the morphologic descriptors of a cluster of microcalcifications in women with a high risk for breast cancer and compared the results with the characteristics of a cluster of microcalcifications in other women. A retrospective review was performed for 81 non-palpable clusters of microcalcifications that had stereotactic vacuum-assisted breast biopsy.
RESULTS: The frequency of malignancy associated with a cluster of microcalcifications was 27%. The 50% frequency of malignancy with high risk for breast cancer was higher, but not significantly so, than the 24% frequency of 71 cases without high risk for breast cancer (P = 0.125). The frequency of malignancy and ADH of a cluster of microcalcifications with high risk of breast cancer was 70%, significantly HIGHER than the 30% frequency of 71 cases without high risk of breast cancer (P = 0.028).
CONCLUSIONS: A cluster of microcalcifications in women with high risk for breast cancer should be considered suspicious and referred for biopsy.