Scirrhous carcinoma of the female breast.

A series of 200 consecutive breast cancers as studied retrospectively. All of the diagnoses were reviewed without knowledge of the initial response; special attention was given to the true scirrhous carcinoma of the female breast, a special form of infiltrating duct carcinoma. Seven cases, an incidence of 3.5 per cent, fulfilled the diagnostic criteria: dense and hyaline connective tissue stroma, evenly distributed throughout the tumour and at its borders and which compressed pleomorphic and scanty carcinoma cells, almost without duct formation. Ten cases, an incidence of 5.0 per cent, were initially diagnosed as scirrhous tumours but have been reclassified as pseudo-scirrhous cancers. The commonest error seems to be the confusion between true scirrhous mammary cancer and infiltrating lobular carcinoma.