ACCURACY OF TUMOR SIZING IN BREAST CANCER: A COMPARISON OF STRAIN ELASTOGRAPHY, 3-D ULTRASOUND AND CONVENTIONAL B-MODE ULTRASOUND WITH AND WITHOUT COMPOUND IMAGING

摘要

The objective of this study was to compare the accuracy of strain elastography (SE), 3-D ultrasound (US), B-mode US with compound imaging (CI) and B-mode US without compound imaging for lesion sizing in breast cancer. The prospective study included 93 patients with invasive breast cancer. The largest tumor diameters measured by B-mode US, B-mode US with CI, SE and 3-D US were compared in Bland-Altman plots versus pathology as reference. A general linear model repeated measures (GLM Rep) was applied to investigate factors influencing tumor sizing. All methods underestimated pathologic size, with SE (-0.08 +/- 7.7 mm) and 3-D US (-1.4 +/- 6.5 mm) having the smallest mean differences from pathology. Bland-Altman plots revealed that B-mode US, B-mode US with CI and 3-D US systematically underestimated large tumor sizes, and only SE was technically comparable to pathology. The study indicates that sonographic underestimation of tumor size occurs mainly in tumors >20 mm; in this subgroup, SE is superior to other ultrasound methods. (E-mail: angrit.stachs@uni-rostock.de) (C) 2016 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology.