Differentiating Pure and Mixed Mucinous Breast Carcinoma Using Multimodality Imaging: A Retrospective Single-Center Study

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of mammography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features in differentiating pure from mixed mucinous breast carcinoma and in identifying imaging characteristics specific to each subtype. Methods: This retrospective single-center study included 68 patients diagnosed with mucinous breast carcinoma between 2017 and 2024. The tumors were classified as pure or mixed mucinous breast carcinomas based on histopathological findings. All available mammography, ultrasound, and MRI examinations were evaluated by a radiologist blinded to the histopathological subtypes. The features, such as tumor shape, margin, signal intensity, mammographic density, echogenicity, and calcifications, were assessed to identify distinctive patterns associated with pure and mixed mucinous breast tumors. Results: mm²/s, p=0.01). Conclusions: A multimodal imaging approach facilitates differentiation between pure and mixed mucinous breast carcinomas. Among the evaluated modalities, MRI provided the greatest discriminatory value, particularly through T2 signal intensity and ADC measurements, and may complement core needle biopsy when tissue sampling is limited.