The importance of mammographic parenchymal patterns.

A method of classification of mammographic parenchymal patterns is proposed and the minor differences between this classification and that described by Wolfe are enumerated. The importance of recognizing the parenchymal pattern in various circumstances is then illustrated. The usefulness of regarding the parenchymal pattern as a background when teaching mammographic interpretation is examined. The relationships in the population of Nottingham between parenchymal patterns and benign disease, cancer and some determinants of risk for the future development of breast cancer are discussed. The association discovered between the oestrogen receptor status of tumours and the parenchymal pattern in which they arise is given, and the possibility of using this relationship in order to give some indication both towards the choice of treatment and also of prognosis is briefly discussed.