Body Part - Breast

ADDITIONAL VIEWS

These are mammograms that are taken with angles and/or positions that are different from the standard craniocaudal and mediolateral oblique views. Some examples are spot compression, spot magnification, , exaggerated lateral, mediolateral and tangential views.

ALMOST ENTIRELY FATTY

This phrase is used in the standard sentence, “The breasts are almost entirely fatty.” It means that the breast is composed of less than 25% glandular tissue and more than 75% fat. Cancer looks like a white spot on a mammogram. Normal glandular tissue is also white on a mammogram. When there is more glandular tissue in the breast, cancer is harder to see/detect.

As an analogy, imagine trying to spot a white bear when it is snowing outside (in the North Pole). If it is snowing lightly, the white bear should be easy to detect. If there is a raging snow storm (blizzard), the white bear will be difficult to detect.

Back to the mammogram…Since there is less than 25% glandular tissue, breast cancer is often more conspicuous in a breast that is “almost entirely fatty”.

ANGULAR MARGINS

This refers to jagged contour of a mass. This Is a descriptor for a suspicious mass.

ARCHITECTURAL DISTORTION

Usually, the glandular tissues in the breast are spread out fairly evenly or symmetrical to the other breast. Architectural distortion is when one area of the breast looks “different” than the other parts of the breast. This can be caused by normal anatomic variation, cancer or changes caused by prior surgery or radiation therapy.

ASYMMETRY

A white spot in the breast seen from just one view on a mammogram. This may be a “fake out”. The radiologist may request the patient to come back for additional mammograms or ultrasound to see if the white spot is really something to worry about.

ATYPICAL DUCTAL HYPERPLASIA

This is the beginning stage of breast cancer formation but is not a breast cancer. You could consider it ‘pre-cancerous.’ Generally, the usual stages from normal tissue to cancer are: normal tissue –> atypical ductal hyperplasia –> ductal carcinoma in situ ( non-invasive breast cancer confined to the milk ducts) –> invasive ductal carcinoma (cancer spreading outside of the milk ducts).