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Breast calcifications
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Breast calcifications are tiny grains of calcium deposited inside breast tissue, and they are very common: they end up scattered through the gland like grains of salt on a tablecloth.
What they are made of is something you learn by looking at them under the microscope. Their main component is hydroxyapatite, a calcium salt, and they are recognized because they stain dark blue with the hematoxylin and eosin stain, the routine stain used to examine any tissue.
There are also calcifications made of calcium phosphate and calcium oxalate, which are colorless with that stain.
The standard test for seeing them is mammography, an X-ray of the breast. And that is where they matter, because about half of the breast cancers that cannot yet be felt are associated with them.
That is why the report does not stop at saying they are there: it describes what shape they have and how they are distributed. And distribution matters here: the ones scattered throughout the breast are almost always benign.
In brief
Breast calcifications are calcium deposits in breast tissue, and they are very common.
Grains of calcium scattered through breast tissue.
Their main component is hydroxyapatite, which stains dark blue with hematoxylin and eosin.
Calcium phosphate and calcium oxalate types also occur, and they are colorless with that stain.
Mammography is the standard test to see them; about half of nonpalpable breast cancers are linked to them.
Reports describe their shape and distribution; a diffuse distribution is almost always benign.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingBenign Breast Calcifications, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated