ABSTRACT
Malignant mastitis is a rare type of breast cancer with a poor prognosis mimicking benign mastitis both radiologically and clinically. Clinically, malignant mastitis is characterized by diffuse breast enlargement, tenderness, increased temperature, and orange peel appearance resulting from filling of the dermal lymphatics with tumor embolism. Although skin thickening is observed as a common finding in mammography, ultrasonography and breast magnetic resonance imaging in the radiological diagnosis of malignant mastitis, different radiological findings provided by different modalities may enable us to reach the correct diagnosis. Radiology plays a key role in ensuring the correct diagnosis of malignant mastitis, assessing the extent of the disease, guiding the tissue sampling, and evaluating the response to treatment. In this article, the clinical findings of malignant mastitis, radiological clues in the diagnosis, differential diagnosis and post-treatment radiological evaluation will be discussed.
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