Axillary Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Staging: an Attempt to Identify Clinical/Histopathological Factors Impacting Diagnostic Performance
Aim To assess the diagnostic value of pre-surgery axillary ultrasound for nodal staging in patients with primary breast cancer and to identify clinical/histopathological factors impacting diagnostic performance. Study Design Single-center, retrospective chart analysis. We assessed sensitivity, speci...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2013-01-01
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| Series: | Breast Cancer: Basic and Clinical Research |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.4137/BCBCR.S11215 |
| _version_ | 1818963805234790400 |
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| author | Kubilay Ertan Christina Linsler Alexander Di Liberto Mei Fang Ong Erich Solomayer Jan Endrikat |
| author_facet | Kubilay Ertan Christina Linsler Alexander Di Liberto Mei Fang Ong Erich Solomayer Jan Endrikat |
| author_sort | Kubilay Ertan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Aim To assess the diagnostic value of pre-surgery axillary ultrasound for nodal staging in patients with primary breast cancer and to identify clinical/histopathological factors impacting diagnostic performance. Study Design Single-center, retrospective chart analysis. We assessed sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value of clinical examination as well as axillary ultrasound vs. clinical examination alone. The histopathological results were the standard of truth. In addition, we analyzed clinical and histopathological factors regarding their potential to impact sensitivity and specificity. Results We enrolled a total of 172 women in the study. Sensitivity of clinical examination plus ultrasound was significantly higher than for clinical examination alone (58% vs. 31.6%). Specificity and positive predictive value were similar while the negative predictive value increased from 63.4% to 73% when additionally applying ultrasound. Sensitivity and specificity of axillary ultrasound were impacted by tumor size ( P = 0.2/0.04), suspicious axillary palpation ( P < 0.01/<0.01), number of affected lymph nodes ( P < 0.01/-) and distant metastases ( P = 0.04/<0.01). All other factors had no impact. Conclusion Since pre-surgery axillary nodal staging is currently used to determine disease management, axillary ultrasound is a useful add-on tool in the diagnostic armamentarium for breast cancer patients. Tumor size, suspicious axillary palpation, number of affected lymph nodes and distant metastases increase diagnostic performance of this diagnostic modality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T12:51:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-635f77ef822149768044f022b14251a4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1178-2234 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T12:51:03Z |
| publishDate | 2013-01-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Breast Cancer: Basic and Clinical Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-635f77ef822149768044f022b14251a42022-12-21T19:40:10ZengSAGE PublishingBreast Cancer: Basic and Clinical Research1178-22342013-01-01710.4137/BCBCR.S11215Axillary Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Staging: an Attempt to Identify Clinical/Histopathological Factors Impacting Diagnostic PerformanceKubilay Ertan0Christina Linsler1Alexander Di Liberto2Mei Fang Ong3Erich Solomayer4Jan Endrikat5Leverkusen Municipal Hospital, Dept. of OB/GYN, Leverkusen, Germany.Saarland University Hospital, Dept. of OB/GYN, Homburg/Saar, Germany.Leverkusen Municipal Hospital, Dept. of OB/GYN, Leverkusen, Germany.Saarland University Hospital, Institute for Medical Biometry, Epidemiology and Medical Informatics, Homburg/Saar, Germany.Saarland University Hospital, Dept. of OB/GYN, Homburg/Saar, Germany.Saarland University Hospital, Dept. of OB/GYN, Homburg/Saar, Germany.Aim To assess the diagnostic value of pre-surgery axillary ultrasound for nodal staging in patients with primary breast cancer and to identify clinical/histopathological factors impacting diagnostic performance. Study Design Single-center, retrospective chart analysis. We assessed sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive value of clinical examination as well as axillary ultrasound vs. clinical examination alone. The histopathological results were the standard of truth. In addition, we analyzed clinical and histopathological factors regarding their potential to impact sensitivity and specificity. Results We enrolled a total of 172 women in the study. Sensitivity of clinical examination plus ultrasound was significantly higher than for clinical examination alone (58% vs. 31.6%). Specificity and positive predictive value were similar while the negative predictive value increased from 63.4% to 73% when additionally applying ultrasound. Sensitivity and specificity of axillary ultrasound were impacted by tumor size ( P = 0.2/0.04), suspicious axillary palpation ( P < 0.01/<0.01), number of affected lymph nodes ( P < 0.01/-) and distant metastases ( P = 0.04/<0.01). All other factors had no impact. Conclusion Since pre-surgery axillary nodal staging is currently used to determine disease management, axillary ultrasound is a useful add-on tool in the diagnostic armamentarium for breast cancer patients. Tumor size, suspicious axillary palpation, number of affected lymph nodes and distant metastases increase diagnostic performance of this diagnostic modality.https://doi.org/10.4137/BCBCR.S11215 |
| spellingShingle | Kubilay Ertan Christina Linsler Alexander Di Liberto Mei Fang Ong Erich Solomayer Jan Endrikat Axillary Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Staging: an Attempt to Identify Clinical/Histopathological Factors Impacting Diagnostic Performance Breast Cancer: Basic and Clinical Research |
| title | Axillary Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Staging: an Attempt to Identify Clinical/Histopathological Factors Impacting Diagnostic Performance |
| title_full | Axillary Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Staging: an Attempt to Identify Clinical/Histopathological Factors Impacting Diagnostic Performance |
| title_fullStr | Axillary Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Staging: an Attempt to Identify Clinical/Histopathological Factors Impacting Diagnostic Performance |
| title_full_unstemmed | Axillary Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Staging: an Attempt to Identify Clinical/Histopathological Factors Impacting Diagnostic Performance |
| title_short | Axillary Ultrasound for Breast Cancer Staging: an Attempt to Identify Clinical/Histopathological Factors Impacting Diagnostic Performance |
| title_sort | axillary ultrasound for breast cancer staging an attempt to identify clinical histopathological factors impacting diagnostic performance |
| url | https://doi.org/10.4137/BCBCR.S11215 |
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