Technical Factors Affecting Ultrasound Breast Tumor Size as Correlated with Pathological Type

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Accurate breast tumor sizing is very important in treatment planning; as a result, ultrasound (US) plays an important role in diagnosing breast masses, due to its non-magnified image and its availability. The continuous change in the disease pathogenesis of breast cancer and tremendous advances in US imaging technology require the continuous evaluation of this imaging modality. In this study, our aim was to determine the accuracy of US in measuring the size of breast mass, and if there is an influence of the different pathological types on this accuracy. Materials and Methods: This study contained 66 specimens of breast masses that underwent surgical excision and pathological examination of the resected masses; the mean difference between the size taken by US and the size taken by pathology was calculated to the patients as a whole and for each tumor type in this study. Results: The result was that US underestimates the size of the tumor by 0.5 cm for all pathological types, and the US size is in agreement with the pathology size. Conclusions: US is an accurate method in measuring breast lesions with a degree of underestimation that may be related to many factors such as the tumor type, size, and margins. Complementary MRI is recommended in case of ILC and architectural distortion.