Routine staging radiology is not needed for all breast cancer patients

Abstract

10648 Background: Early stage breast carcinoma is unlikely to have undergone metastatic spread at the time of presentation. The utility of routine staging liver ultrasound (LUS) and bone scan (BS) in early stage disease is unclear. We postulate that early stage breast cancer patients do not need routine radiological staging. Methods: We studied 200 patients with a diagnosis of invasive breast carcinoma. 100 with symptomatic breast cancer (SBC) and 100 with screen detected (SD). Patients’ histology, tumour markers (CEA, CA 15.3), hormone receptor status, CXR, LUS and BS results were reviewed. Results: All patients underwent curative surgery for early stage invasive breast cancer. 3 patients had liver metastases diagnosed by LUS. Two of these patients were from the SBC and one from SD (grade ≥2, mean tumour size 2.2 cm). 4 patients had bony metastases diagnosed by BS. Three of these were from the SBC and one from SD (grade ≥2, mean tumour size 3.2 cm.). No patients with low-grade T1 tumours had signs of metastasis on BS or US. Conclusions: The incidence of metastatic disease is very low in newly diagnosed early stage breast carcinoma. Our results suggest that patients with low-grade T1 tumours do not need staging BS or US. No significant financial relationships to disclose.