Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Breast, MR, Ultrasound, Mammography, Biopsy, Cancer
Authors:
L. Fernandes1, J. Lopes Dias1, H. A. M. R. Tinto1, P. L. Pegado1, J. Raposo2, P. Santos1; 1Lisbon/PT, 2Lisboa/PT
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2013/C-2248
Conclusion
Unlike another types of breast cancer in which surgery is the first modality of treatment,
chemotherapy before surgery or radiation therapy is the current standard treatment of Inflammatory carcinoma.
The presence of isolated inflammatory signs is sufficient to suspect inflammatory breast carcinoma clinically.
Radiologically,
this carcinoma has a mammographic pattern of inflammatory changes,
such as skin thickening and stromal coarsening and/or diffusely increased breast density.
Associated mass and/or malignant-type microcalcifications are usually evident but may be absent.
The assessment of the mass may not be made precisely because of the diffusely increased density on mammograms.
US evaluation is helpful not only in depiction of masses but also in depiction of skin and pectoral muscle invasion and axillary involvement in inflammatory carcinoma.
Because dynamic MR imaging kinetics correspond to a tumor’s vascular parameters,
quantification of these signals may be used to better evaluate tumor extension and has been used to monitor response to chemotherapy.
MR imaging can be used to differentiate post chemotherapy residual tumor from post chemotherapy fibrosis and glandular tissue.