Abstract
The methods of treatment for early-stage breast cancer have changed dramatically from radical mastectomy to the now widely accepted alternative of breast-conserving surgery with breast irradiation.
Imaging findings after breast radiotherapy include those related to the surgical procedure and those related to the radiotherapy. The posttreatment alterations include masses, fluid collections, breast edema, skin thickening, fat necrosis, architectural distortion, and calcifications. These findings may be alarming both clinically and radiographically, but biopsy can be avoided in most instances if information from the history is correlated with findings from continued imaging follow-up.
Awareness of these normal chronologic imaging findings for the conservatively treated breast also minimizes unnecessary recall from screening and permits early detection of recurrent breast carcinoma.
Therefore, an understanding of expected imaging findings of the posttreated breast is crucial for the radiologist and breast imaging specialist, who will inevitably encounter patients in this clinical scenario.
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de Camargo Moraes, P. (2022). Radiation Therapy. In: Kim Hsieh, S.J., Morris, E.A. (eds) Modern Breast Cancer Imaging. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84546-9_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-84546-9_18
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