Casting-type calcifications on the mammogram suggest a higher probability of early relapse and death among high-risk breast cancer patients

Figures & data

Table I.  Patient- and tumor-related characteristics of 55 high-risk breast cancer cases displaying the presence or absence of casting-type calcifications on the mammogram.

Casting-type calcifications	Age (mean, years±SE)	Tumor size (mean, mm±SE)	Number of positive nodes (mean±SE)	Grade 3 (%)	LVI present (%)	ER+ (%)	PR+ (%)	HER2 + + /+ + + (%)
Absent (n=45)	51.5±1.2	35.8±3.1	7.7±0.8	23 (52.3%)	32 (71%)	24 (53%)	23 (51%)	8 (18%)
Present (n=10)	51.9±3.8	34.2±7.4	6.9±1.6	9 (90%)	6 (60%)	1 (10%)	0 (0%)	6 (60%)
p	NS	NS	NS	0.036	NS	0.015	0.003	0.012

LVI, lymphovascular invasion.

Table II.  Risks of relapse and death based on conventional prognostic factors (age, grade, ER status, tumor size, nodal status with or without HER2 status) among the tumor groups with or without casting-type calcifications, as indicated by the software Adjuvant!

	Without inclusion of the HER2 status		With inclusion of the HER2 status
Casting-type calcifications	Risk of relapse (%)	Risk of death (%)	Risk of relapse (%)	Risk of death (%)
Absent (n=45)	71.6±2.1	56.4±2.4	71.7±2.3	56.2±2.6
Present (n=10)	74.8±4.6	65.9±5.5	78.7±5.1	70.7±6.2
p (Mann-Whitney U-test)	0.395	0.068	0.180	0.033

Figure 1.  The effect of the mammographic feature of casting-type calcifications on recurrence-free (a) and overall survival (b).