title: MRI versus ultrasonography and mammography for preoperative assessment of breast cancer.
abstract: Mammography and ultrasonography are traditional for preoperative estimation of breast cancer size; magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is more recent but not as well studied. We compared ultrasonography, mammography, and MRI for preoperative imaging of primary breast cancer presenting as a mass in patients treated at our center over a 2-year period. Of the 61 breast cancers with all three imaging modalities performed, 52 were infiltrating ductal cancer, 5 were infiltrating lobular cancer, 2 were ductal carcinoma in situ, and 2 were other histologic types. When pathologic size was used to determine the accuracy of imaging assessments, the Pearson correlation coefficient was better for MRI (r = 0.80) than ultrasonography (r = 0.57) or mammography (r = 0.26). Mean tumor size was 2.1 cm by mammography, 1.73 cm by ultrasonography, 2.65 cm by MRI, and 2.76 cm by pathology. MRI-based tumor size was within 1 cm of pathologic size in 44 (72%) tumors, > 1 cm above pathologic size in 6 (10%) tumors, and > 1 cm below pathologic size in 11 (18%) tumors. We conclude that MRI is more accurate than either ultrasonography or mammography for assessment of the size of primary breast cancer presenting as a mass.
authors.affiliation: John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's Health Center, Santa Monica, California 90404, USA.
authors.forename: Nabil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wasif
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garreau
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Terando
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kirsch
authors.forename: Debra F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Mund
authors.forename: Armando E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Giuliano
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008327:Mammography; D008408:Mastectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016217:Ultrasonography, Mammary