This poster is published under an
open license. Please read the
disclaimer for further details.
Keywords:
Cancer, Perception image, Ultrasound, Breast
Authors:
M. Costantini1, P. Belli1, E. Bufi2, E. FERRA3, G. T. Bitti4, L. Bonomo1; 1ROME/IT, 2ROMA/IT, 3CAGLIARI /IT, 4cagliari/IT
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2014/C-1640
Conclusion
Invasive carcinomas of the breast are different both in term of biological behavior and radiologic appearance [17-23].
Our results showed that the tumor grade on invasive cancers influenced the ultrasound findings.
Low tumor grade (G1 and G2) was associated to spiculated margin,
posterior acoustic shadowing and hyperechoic halo (Fig.
9).
High tumor grade correlates to inhomogeneous/middle hypoechoic echo pattern,
abrupt interface and absence of posterior acoustic shadowing (Fig.
10).
Probably these differentiations were related to the stromal reaction and to the cellular microstructure.
Traditionally,
a typical malignant breast mass (BI-RADS 5) was expected to exhibit spiculated margins,
echogenic halo and posterior acoustic shadowing.
However some studies have shown that masses with circumscribed margins and posterior enhancement (BI-RADS 4) are more likely to represent higher grade tumors [7-12] Our results are consistent with these findings.
A limitation of our study is that the results are based on a retrospective analisys.
To avoid bias,
however,
we included all consecutive patients with histologically proven malignant breast tumors.
All images were also reviewed by two investigator in consensus blinded to the clinical and pathological data.
Breast cancer aggressiveness appears to correlate with some echographic features.
Therefore,
further investigations are needed to understood the biological characteristics that may results in imaging differences.