Histological Patterns and Mammographic Presentation of Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Show No Obvious Associations

Abstract

Invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast has different mammographic appearances, including spiculated or lobulated masses, architectural distortion, increased breast density, and the possibility of also being occult. Histologically, the morphology is also variable, as several patterns have been described beside the classical one, including the solid, the alveolar, the trabecular, the one with tubular elements, and others. Of 146 ILC cases, 141 were reviewed for mammographic appearance and 136 for histological patterns by two radiologist and two pathologists, respectively; 132 common cases were analyzed for possible associations between mammographic presentation and the histological patterns. Interobserver agreement on the presence or absence of a given mammographic morphology ranged from 45% (increased density) to 95% (occult lesion); the most common radiomorphology was that of a spiculated mass. Interobserver agreement on the presence or absence of a given histological pattern ranged between 79% (solid) and 99% (classical) but was worse when semi-quantification was also included. The mammography–pathology correlation was less than optimal. Multifocality was more commonly detected by histology. The identification of a mammographic mass lesion often coincided with a mass-like lesion on the histological slides and vice versa, but nearly half of the mammographically occult lesions were felt to have masses on histological slides assessed grossly. Histological patterns showed no obvious associations with one or the other mammographic appearance.