Skin thickening on mammography (differential)
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The presence of skin thickening on mammography is variably defined, usually being more than 2mm in thickness. It can result from a number of both benign and malignant causes. They include:
Malignant
- inflammatory breast cancer: one of the most concerning causes of skin thickening: this usually gives diffuse skin thickening
- locally invasive breast cancer: tends to give focal skin thickening
- lymphatic obstruction of metastatic axillary nodes
- certain metastases to the breast
- breast lymphoma
Benign
- infection: mastitis
- conditions causing fluid build up in the breast: tends to be bilateral although at times can be asymmetrical if the patient has been lying on a particular side prior to the mammogram
- trauma to the breast
- mammary fat nacrosis
- burns to the skin overlying the breast with scarring
- chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) 2
- breast irradiation: tends to be most prominent around 6 months after irradiation
- certain dermatological conditions
-<a href="/articles/breast-irradiation">breast irradiation</a>: tends to be most prominent around 6 months after irradiation</li>- +<a title="Breast irradiation" href="/articles/radiation-induced-breast-changes">breast irradiation</a>: tends to be most prominent around 6 months after irradiation</li>
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