Concordance Rate of Radiological Stage With Post-Operative Pathological Stage In Breast Cancer

Abstract

Objective: To assess the concordance between the radiological and post-operative pathological stages in invasive breast carcinoma. Study Design: Cross-validation study Place and Duration of Study: Department of Medical Oncology, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi Pakistan, from Jan to Jul 2020. Methodology: A total of 160 females aged 20-80 years with confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer underwent upfront modified radical mastectomy along with axillary node dissection were included in the study. Demographic and clinic pathological findings of all the patients were reported in pre-designed proforma. Stage concordance was labelled as a patient assigned to the same stage radiologically and pathologically. Results: The mean age of the 160 patients was 47.22±10.51 years. The relationship between radiological and pathological staging was weak (r=0.383) but statistically significant (p=0.001). The tumor stage on radiological and pathological assessment was similar in 60 cases (37.3%). Radiologic assessment overestimated the stage in 75 cases (46.6%) and underestimated it in 26 cases (16.1%). The overall concordance between radiological and pathological staging was 18.8% (p=0.001). Conclusion: Among patients with breast cancer, a high rate of discordance was observed between the radiological and pathological stages. The high odds of discordance are therefore important to plan treatment.