Mammographic features of invasive lobular and invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast: a comparative analysis.

The mammographic appearances of 86 invasive lobular carcinomas were compared with those of 86 invasive ductal carcinomas of no special type matched for age, size and stage. There was no significant difference in the frequency of a mammographic abnormality consistent with malignancy between the lobular carcinoma (90%) and ductal carcinoma (96%) groups. A spiculate mass was the commonest feature in both groups (69% and 63%, respectively). There were no differences in the imaging features of masses in the two groups. In the lobular carcinoma group any mammographic abnormality was more likely to be seen on only one view and calcifications were less frequently observed. Multiple lesions were more frequent in the ductal carcinoma group. However, although these differences appeared to reach statistical significance, as they were only apparent in a study with a large number of comparisons, it is unlikely that these differences are practically significant. Analysis of the lobular invasive group failed to demonstrate any significant differences in the imaging features of the classical and mixed sub-types, a spiculate mass being the most common single abnormality in both. No mammographic differences of practical use to distinguish invasive lobular from invasive ductal carcinoma of no special type were demonstrated.