Doppler Ultrasound Helps Identify Breast Cancer

Three-dimensional Doppler ultrasound highly accurate in identifying cancerous tumors

TUESDAY, Oct. 21 (HealthDay News) -- Three-dimensional (3D) power Doppler ultrasound helps differentiate malignant and benign breast lesions, according to a report in the November issue of Radiology.

Gerald L. LeCarpentier, Ph.D., of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues examined the utility of a 3D Doppler ultrasound exam to distinguish benign and malignant lesions among women scheduled for a core or excisional biopsy of the breast due to a suspicious breast mass.

Overall, 78 women between the ages of 26 and 70 had the 3D ultrasound and were biopsied. 3D Doppler ultrasound demonstrated a 100 percent sensitivity in identifying malignant tumors and a specificity of 86 percent in excluding benign tumors when used in combination with age-based assessment and gray scale visual analysis, the researchers report.

"Using 3D scans promises greater accuracy due to more consistent sampling over the entire tumor," said LeCarpentier in a statement. "Using speed-weighted 3D power Doppler ultrasound, higher flow velocities in the malignant tumor-feeding vessels may be detected, whereas vessels with slower flow velocities in surrounding benign masses may be excluded."

Abstract
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