Accuracy of determining preoperative cancer extent measured by automated breast ultrasonography

The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of measuring preoperative cancer extent using automated breast ultrasonography (US).

This retrospective study consisted of 40 patients with histopathologically confirmed breast cancer. All of the patients underwent automated breast US (ABVS; Siemens Medical Solutions, Mountain View, CA, USA) on the day before the surgery. The sizes of the lesions on US were measured on coronal multiplanar reconstruction images using the ABVS workstation. Histopathological measurement of tumor size included not only the invasive foci but also any in situ component and was used as the gold standard. The discrepancy of the tumor extent between automated breast US and the histological examination was calculated.

Automated breast US enabled visualization of the breast carcinomas in all patients. The mean size of the lesions on US was 12 mm (range 4-62 mm). The histopathological diagnosis was ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) in seven patients and invasive ductal carcinoma in 33 patients (18 without an intraductal component, 15 with an intraductal component). Lesions ranged in diameter from 4 to 65 mm (mean 16 mm). The accuracy of determination of the tumor extent with a deviation in length of <2 cm was 98% (39/40).

Automated breast US is thought to be useful for evaluating tumor extent preoperatively.