Monday, 2 June 2008

Is surgical excision necessary in benign papillary lesions initially diagnosed at core biopsy?

Won-Ho Kil, Eun Yoon Cho, Jung Han Kim, Seok-Jin Nam and Jung-Hyun Yang
The Breast 17, Issue 3, June 2008, Pages 258-262

Link to Journal

Debate continues regarding the use of surgical excision in benign papillary lesions initially diagnosed at core biopsy. The objective of this study is to propose management guidelines for benign papillary breast lesions initially diagnosed at core biopsy. Between January 2003 and January 2006, 76 lesions were identified as benign papillary lesions at initial core needle biopsy (n=68) or vacuum biopsy (n=8). After surgical excision, six of the 68 benign papillary lesions initially diagnosed at core needle biopsy were confirmed as malignant papillary neoplasms, giving a false-negative rate of core needle biopsy of 8.8%. Three of the eight atypical papillomas initially diagnosed at core needle biopsy were confirmed as papillary cancer in final pathology, giving a false-negative rate of 37.5%. In the analysis of the difference between benign papillary lesions and atypia or malignant papillary lesions, malignant papillary lesions were located more peripherally (p=0.005) than benign lesions and were larger (>1.5 cm, p=0.017).

It is concluded that atypical papillomas at initial core biopsy or large, clinically peripherally located papillomas (>1.5 cm) need additional surgical excision.

Improving B mode ultrasound evaluation of breast lesions with real-time ultrasound elastography—A clinical approach

S.M. Tan, H.S. Teh, J.F. Kent Mancer and W.T. Poh
The Breast 17, Issue 3, June 2008, Pages 252-257

Link to article

Ultrasound elastography using the extended combined auto-correlation method of tissue elasticity allows for real-time strain image visualisation using a free-hand probe with concurrent conventional B mode imaging. Four hundred and fifteen consecutive women with 550 breast lesions confirmed on B mode ultrasound were assessed with elastography using the elasticity score. There were 119 malignant and 431 benign lesions. The elastography sensitivity was 78.0%, specificity was 98.5% and overall accuracy was 93.8%. The median score for malignancy was 5 and that for benign lesions was 2.

There was good correlation with B mode BIRADS category. 98.6% of lesions with an elasticity score of 2 or below (95%CI=96.8–99.4) were benign. BIRADS 3 lesions with an elasticity score of 2 or below may be re-classified as BIRADS 2 lesions. We found that 15.3% of BIRADS 2 and 3 lesions with an elasticity score of 3 were malignant. Real-time ultrasound elastography is user-friendly with a high accuracy rate, thereby improving B mode ultrasound assessment.

Monday, 14 April 2008

Surveillance mammography after breast conservation therapy in Hong Kong: Effectiveness and feasibility of risk-adapted approach

T.K. Yau, H. Sze, I.S. Soong, W. Wong, K. Chan, A. Chang, K.Y. Lau and A. Lee
The Breast 17, 2, April 2008, Pages 132-137

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Annual surveillance mammography is commonly recommended after breast conservation therapy (BCT). We retrospectively reviewed its effectiveness on 511 invasive and non-invasive breast cancers treated with BCT between 1994 and 2003. The median follow-up was 5.9 years. The 5-year actuarial ipsilateral breast tumour recurrence (IBTR) rate was 4.5% and contralateral breast cancer (CBC) rate was 2.0% (representing eight times increase in risk). IBTR of 43% and 62% CBC were first detected by surveillance mammography. The IBTR detection rates per 1000 mammograms were 5.2 for patients (n=349) with one or more IBTR risk factors (age less-than-or-equals, slant45, positive/close margins or histological grade 3) and 0.6 for patients (n=162) without. No survival difference was observed between different modes of IBTR detection (p=0.342).

In conclusion, a risk-adapted approach of limiting ipsilateral surveillance to patients with IBTR risk is possible but its implementation will be complicated by the continued need of contralateral surveillance.

Borderline breast lesions diagnosed at core needle biopsy: Can magnetic resonance mammography rule out associated malignancy? Preliminary results base

Anna Linda, Chiara Zuiani, Massimo Bazzocchi, Alessandro Furlan and Viviana Londero
The Breast 17, 2, April 2008, Pages 125-131

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The purpose of this study is to assess whether magnetic resonance mammography (MRM) can exclude associated malignancy in case of diagnosis of borderline breast lesions (B3) at core needle biopsy (CNB). Retrospective analysis of MRM findings of 79 borderline breast lesions (26 benign papillomas, 29 radial sclerosing lesions, 6 atypical ductal hyperplasias, 18 lobular neoplasias) diagnosed at CNB was performed.

Lesions were classified as “non-suspicious” or “suspicious” according to Fischer score. These findings were compared to the results of histological analysis of the excisional specimens. Sensitivity, specificity, positive (PPV) and negative (NPV) predictive values of MRM in predicting the presence of malignancy were calculated. Out of 24 (30.4%) lesions classified as “suspicious”, 8 (33.3%) proved to be malignant and 16 (66.7%) benign. Among the 55 (69.6%) “non-suspicious” lesions, only 1 (1.8%) was malignant (low-grade ductal carcinoma in situ), while the remaining 54 (98.2%) proved to be benign. MRM sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 88.9%, 77.1%, 33.3%, and 98.2%, respectively.

When a borderline lesion is diagnosed on CNB, in case of mild or no enhancement at MRM, follow-up rather than excisional biopsy might be prompted.

Friday, 15 February 2008

Performance of radiographers in mammogram interpretation: A systematic review

F.J.H.M. van den Biggelaar, P.J. Nelemans and K. Flobbe
The Breast Volume 17, Issue 1, February 2008, Pages 85-90
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This systematic literature review focuses on the performance of radiographers (also referring to technologists and physician assistants) compared with radiologists in the interpretation of mammograms; the effect of training; and the question whether there are any studies evaluating the effects of involving radiographers in the interpretation of diagnostic mammograms in daily clinical practice on the sensitivity and specificity of cancer detection in breast imaging.

Six studies met the inclusion criteria (primary aim of the study has to be the evaluation of the performance of radiographers, sensitivity and specificity have to be reported or calculable and there has to be a sufficient gold standard). The results showed that, in a screening setting, radiographers scored higher false positive rates with a similar sensitivity in the detection of malignancies, compared with radiologists. Furthermore, results suggested that training could improve their performance. No studies were reported assessing the performance of radiographers interpreting diagnostic mammograms in a consecutive patient population in a daily clinical setting.

This indicates a need for a well-designed diagnostic study using an adequate gold standard, in order to evaluate the feasibility of deploying radiographers in the interpretation of diagnostic mammograms in a clinical setting.

Pain in different methods of breast biopsy: Emphasis on vacuum-assisted breast biopsy

Flora Zagouri, Theodoros N. Sergentanis, Antonia Gounaris, Dimitra Koulocheri, Afroditi Nonni, Philip Domeyer, Constantine Fotiadis, John Bramis and George C. Zografos
The Breast Volume 17, Issue 1, February 2008, Pages 71-75
Link

This study examines pain (visual analog scale 0–10) in women undergoing breast biopsy. Two hundred and twenty-seven patients with a palpable lesion underwent FNA (21 G, n=85), core biopsy (14 G, n=86) or open biopsy under local anesthesia (n=56). One hundred and twenty-six women presented with a non-palpable lesion, and underwent vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VABB, 11 G) under mammographic guidance, prone position (n=72) or hook-wire localization followed by open surgery (n=54).

The techniques sampling non-palpable lesions were the most painful: hook-wire (9.15±0.74) and VABB (4.35±1.70). Larger needle diameter was associated with more intense pain. Concerning VABB, an S-shape curve of pain (third-order pattern) was documented. A second dose of lidocaine just before the rapid increase phase was then adopted (
n=61), and reduced the total/maximum pain. In conclusion, although VABB is less painful than hook-wire, the pain experienced in VABB is significant; however, it can be attenuated by a second dose of lidocaine.

Outcome of initially only magnetic resonance mammography-detected findings with and without correlate at second-look sonography

Outcome of initially only magnetic resonance mammography-detected findings with and without correlate at second-look sonography: Distribution according to patient history of breast cancer and lesion size
Anna Linda, Chiara Zuiani, Viviana Londero and Massimo Bazzocchi
The Breast Volume 17, Issue 1, February 2008, Pages 51-57

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the outcome of initially only magnetic resonance mammography (MRM)-detected breast lesions as a function of radiologic features, history of breast cancer and lesion size.
Radiologic features, history of breast cancer and large diameter are associated with high likelihood of malignancy in case of initially only MRM-detected lesions. Nevertheless, biopsy might be spared just for MRI BI-RADS 3 lesions in patients without history of breast carcinoma.