Staging of palpable T1-2 invasive breast cancer with helical CT.
BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of contrast-enhanced high resolution helical computed tomography (CT) for assessing locoregional staging of palpable T1-2 invasive breast cancer.


METHODS
Helical CT studies of 156 lesions from 156 patients with invasive breast cancer before breast-conserving surgery were examined. A lesion was defined as positive if focal enhancement was detected by CT within 100 seconds after contrast material administration. After resection, tumors were histopathologically mapped and comparison made with the extent of contrast enhancement.


RESULTS
Helical CT enabled detection of all 156 index tumors. CT enabled detection of 28 of 43 multifocal lesions (65%) and five of five multicentric lesions (100%). In 24 of 33 lesions (73%), CT revealed additional cancers not seen on mammography. The extent of tumor significantly correlated with CT measurements (r=0.76, p<0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Helical CT of the breast is an accurate preoperative imaging modality for assessing the locoregional staging of T1-2 invasive breast cancer.
Uematsu
T
T
The Department of Radiology, Niigata Cancer Center Hospital, 2-15-3 Kawagishi-cho, Niigata-shi, Niigata 951-8566, Japan.
Sano
M
M
Homma
K
K
Makino
H
H
Shiina
M
M
Kobayashi
S
S
Shimizu
K
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods