A Study of Breast Parenchyma by Mammography In the Normal Woman and Those with Benign and Malignant Disease

The breast parenchyma of 3,250 women was studied by mammography in an attempt to relate certain patterns to the normal breast, to benign disease, and to malignant disease. The analysis disclosed great similarities between the normal women and those with benign disease in respect to age and parity. This parallel appearance leads one to conclude there is a difference of only a slight degree between the woman with clinically apparent mammary dysplasia such as adenosis and fibrocystic disease and the “normal” and that the abnormalities are developmental, with their highest incidence in the late teens and early twenties. The roentgenographic appearance of the parenchyma in malignant tumor reveals a definite and significant relationship to visible ducts within the breast, usually bilateral, occasionally unilateral, and nearly always involving the remaining breast after prior mastectomy. More interesting and perhaps important is the “ductal hypertrophy and hyperplasia” and therefore “cancer risk” seen in women a...