High-Resolution Ultrasound in Breast Cancer Diagnosis: Sensitivity, Specificity, and Clinical Implications

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Oncology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Breast cancer diagnosis relies on accurate imaging.
• High-resolution ultrasound (HR US) offers detailed breast imaging.
• Evaluating HR US performance in lesion characterization is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the sensitivity and specificity of HR US for breast lesion characterization.
• To evaluate HR US's role in early breast cancer detection.
• To compare HR US findings with histopathology results.

Main Methods:

• Prospective cross-sectional study of 6150 patients with palpable breast lesions.
• Lesions categorized using the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS).
• Comparison of HR US and mammography findings with biopsy-confirmed histopathology.

Main Results:

• HR US demonstrated high true negative rates for BI-RADS 2 (98.8%) and 3 (80%) lesions.
• High true positive rate for BI-RADS 5 (99.14%) and specificity (99.13%).
• Sensitivity for BI-RADS 2 (98.7%) was high, but lower for BI-RADS 3 (30%) and BI-RADS 4 (12.5%).

Conclusions:

• HR US is valuable for breast lesion characterization and differentiating benign from malignant cases.
• It is particularly useful when mammography is unavailable or contraindicated.
• HR US assists in selecting patients for biopsy and invasive procedures.