Skin thickening on mammography is commonly associated with which clinical correlate?

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Skin thickening on a mammogram indicates edema in the skin, most often from an inflammatory process, but it can also point to an underlying malignancy such as inflammatory breast cancer that obstructs lymphatics. Because this finding carries a cancer risk, it requires clinical correlation and usually further evaluation (breast exam, targeted ultrasound, and sometimes biopsy) to determine the cause. Prior implants tend to cause implant- or capsule-related changes rather than diffuse skin thickening; a simple fibroadenoma presents as a discrete mass, not skin thickening; normal aging does not typically cause this finding.