ULTRASONIC DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF NONINVASIVE CARCINOMA OF THE BREAST

Abstract

Seven cases of noninvasive carcinoma of the breast and 8 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma with a predominant intraductal component were clinicopathologically studied to determine the possibility of ultrasonic diagnosis. Both patient groups showed similar clinical features. Palpation of noninvasive carcinomas resulted in benign diseases such as mastopathy and fibroadenoma, but that of intraductal-predominant carcinomas turned out malignant in half of them. Ultrasonic diagnosis indicated malignancy for only one case of noninvasive carcinoma (diagnosing rate of 25%), versus for 2 cases (40%) of in intraductal-predomi nant carcinoma. In both groups, tumors ranged from around 1cm to the maximum of nearly 10cm in size, were not associated with lymph node metastasis and were in Stage I according to tn(N)m classification. The longest survival period of 6 years was noted in both groups, and there have been no recurrence in all patients. Both groups revealed almost similar ultrasonic pictures which could not be differentiated from each other. These pictures were characterized by ill-defined, inner echos in variety, and relatively low echoic tumor with small ratio of the length-to-breadth. From these findings, all patients of both groups can be possible candidates for limited operation, however, some question would be still remained in terms of the necessity of limph node dissection and extent of resection in breast conservation procedure.