Objective  We aimed to compare mammography features between breast cancers patients older and younger than 60 years and to investigate the correlation between rate of microcalcification and age.

  Methods  A retrospective analysis was conducted onmammography data of 1, 959 patients with breast cancer diagnosed based on pathology findings from June 2012 to April 2013 at the Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital. Our study population was divided into 2 groups: older patient group (n=512) and younger patient group (n=1, 447).

  Results  The proportions of cases involving high mass density were 73.0% (330/452) and 46.0% (464/1, 008) in the older and younger patient groups, respectively. Furthermore, the proportions of cases involving equal or low mass density were 27.0% (122/ 452) and 54.0% (544/1, 008) in the corresponding groups, respectively (P < 0.05). The older and younger patient groups included 178 (34.8%) and 603 (41.7%) patients with microcalcification, respectively (P < 0.05). We further divided our patient population (1, 959 patients) into various age groups: < 30, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, and ≥70 years. The proportions of cases involving microcalcification in the corresponding age groups were 58.8% (10/17), 42.8% (74/173), 41.0% (259/632), 41.6% (260/625), 38.2% (137/359), and 26.8% (41/153), respectively (P=0.008).

  Conclusions  Although the proportions of mass density and microcalcification were different between the older and younger patient groups, the fact that microcalcified foci decreased with age deserves further attention.