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Role of ultrasonography in treatment selection

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Abstract

In spite of difficulties impacting objectivity and reproducibility due to its dependence on the technical and diagnostic ability of each examiner, ultrasonography (US) in general can evaluate very well soft tissue lesions, especially small lesions of 1 cm or less in size. US can reliably delineate the nature of several lesions, and can detect dilated mammary ducts and lymph nodes. On the other hand, US may miss ductal spread or lymph node metastasis of breast cancer, especially if the lesions are too minute to be detected by the instrument. US should be used together with X-ray or MR mammography to prevent false negative cases. US is useful for evaluating the local nature and characteristics of cancerous lesions such as size, invasiveness, histological type, intraductal spread etc, and can evaluate regional lymph node and liver metastasis for pre-treatment staging. In addition, US-guided techniques are essential for preoperative pathological diagnosis by FNAC or CNB and for marking the marginal line for partial mastectomy. US should be more actively used to monitor intra-mammary recurrence after breast conserving surgery.

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Abbreviations

US:

Ultrasonography, Ultrasound

MR:

Magnetic resonance

FNAC:

Fine needle aspiration cytology

CNB:

Core needle biopsy

QOL:

Quality of life

DCIS:

Ductal carcinomain situ (noninvasive ductal carcinoma)

LCIS:

Lobular carcinomain situ

WHO:

World health organization

Vmax:

Maximum velocity

PI:

Pulsatility index

Rl:

Resistive index, Resistance index, Radio-isotope

BCS:

Breast conserving surgery

D/W:

DW ratio, Depth width ratio

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, Yamachika Memorial Hospital, Japan

    Mitsuhiro Kubota, Kouichi Inoue, Seiben Koh, Tetsuya Sato & Teruji Sugita

Authors
  1. Mitsuhiro Kubota
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  2. Kouichi Inoue
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  3. Seiben Koh
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  4. Tetsuya Sato
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  5. Teruji Sugita
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Additional information

Reprint requests to Mitsuhiro Kubota, Department of Surgery, Yamachika Memorial Hospital, Koyawata 3-19-14, Odawara, Kanagawa 256-0815, Japan.

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Kubota, M., Inoue, K., Koh, S. et al. Role of ultrasonography in treatment selection. Breast Cancer 10, 188–197 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02966717

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02966717

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