Mammographic appearance of breast cancer in African-American women: report of 100 consecutive cases.

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES

The authors determined the mammographic appearance of breast carcinoma in African-American women and compared it with that in a white cohort.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The authors reviewed the mammograms, clinical records, and pathology records of 97 consecutive African-American women with 100 confirmed breast cancers and 110 white women with 111 confirmed breast cancers.

RESULTS

The mammograms obtained in African-American women were positive in 94 cases (94%), and those obtained in white women were positive in 99 cases (89%). Forty-seven percent of malignancies in African-American women appeared as calcifications, alone or with a mass, and 41% appeared as a mass only. There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of these two findings between the African-American and the white populations. There was no statistically significant difference in the breast parenchymal pattern between the two groups. The most common tumor location in both races was the upper outer quadrant.

CONCLUSION

Breast carcinoma in African-American women is similar to that in white women in terms of mammographic appearance, location, and breast density. The mammographic appearance should not be an impediment to the detection of breast cancer in African-American women.