Does Contrast Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS) of Normal/Benign Axillary Lymph Nodes in Patients with Breast Cancer Identify Significant Axillary Nodal Burden?

PURPOSE: Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) of the axilla allows preoperative identification and biopsy of the sentinel lymph node. Our aims were to evaluate the accuracy of the CEUS procedure for identifying axillary lymph node metastases preoperatively and compare the volume of axillary metastases in patients with malignant versus benign CEUS guided core biopsy at end of primary surgical treatment. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data on patients with breast cancer with normal axillary ultrasound or benign axillary FNAC undergoing preoperatively CEUS guided sentinel lymph node biopsy between 2013 and 2018. RESULTS: SLN was successfully identified by CEUS in 186 (90.7%) of patients with definitive diagnosis obtained in 163 (87.6%). Overall sensitivity was 55.77%, but significantly higher for high volume disease (77.78%) than for low volume disease (32.00%, odds ratio = 7.44, 95% CI = 2.16 to 25.62, p = .001) Specificity was 100%. NPV was 82.84% overall, 86.72% for low volume disease and 94.87 % for high volume disease. 72.4% of patients with initial malignant CEUS guided SLN core biopsy had two or more macrometastases at end of surgical treatment compared to 4.47% of patients with initial benign CEUS guided core biopsy. CONCLUSION: When disease was present, CEUS guided sentinel lymph node core biopsy identify nodal metastases in 55.77% of patients with normal axillary grey scale ultrasound. This study suggests that the likelihood of extensive axillary disease at end of surgical treatment is low with an initial benign CEUS guided SLN core biopsy.

Bloody Nipple Discharge in a Man with Benign Papillomas: A Case Report.

Blood-stained nipple discharge in a man would usually be proved to be male breast cancer. We present a case where this unusual presentation was associated with benign intraductal papillomas, managed with simple duct excision, preserving the patient's nipple whilst adequately investigating and managing the condition.

The Potential Impact of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis on the Benign Biopsy Rate in Women Recalled within the UK Breast Screening Programme.

Background Multiple studies showed digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) has a higher cancer detection rate and a lower recall rate than full-field digital mammography (FFDM). However, there is a paucity of studies on whether the benign biopsy rate will be lower with DBT. Purpose To evaluate the benign biopsy rate of DBT versus that of FFDM in women recalled after breast screening within the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme. Materials and Methods This prospective single institution study included women who underwent screening FFDM or screening breast MRI between November 13, 2015, and July 29, 2016, and were recalled. Women who were recalled underwent a breast examination, additional imaging (mammography, US), and biopsy, if required. The number of interventions and the outcome of assessment were recorded. FFDM was performed at the screening appointment, and DBT images were acquired when participants attended a screening assessment within 3 weeks after screening FFDM. Two of four readers blinded to biopsy results analyzed DBT images in isolation and then in conjunction with FFDM images and any additional two-dimensional mammographic or US images. Two-tailed McNemar tests were used to test differences in sensitivity and specificity of the two conditions at 5% significance level. Results During the study period, 30 933 women underwent FFDM. A total of 1470 women were recalled (recall rate, 4.8%), and 827 were included after exclusion criteria were applied. Their mean age was 56.7 years ± 7.7 (standard deviation). A total of 145 breast cancers were detected (142 with FFDM, two with DBT only, one with surveillance MRI). Triple assessment without DBT resulted in 571 breast biopsies and enabled detection of 142 cancers. The addition of DBT would have resulted in 298 biopsies and detection of 142 cancers, reducing the number of biopsies from 571 of 827 (69.0%) to 298 of 827 (36.0%). Conclusion When compared with full-field digital mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis can reduce the benign biopsy rate while maintaining the cancer detection rate. © RSNA, 2019 Online supplemental material is available for this article. See also the editorial by Skaane in this issue.

Enhanced pre-operative axillary staging using intradermal microbubbles and contrast-enhanced ultrasound to detect and biopsy sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer: a potential replacement for axillary surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the experience of four UK Centres in the use of intradermal microbubbles and contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to pre-operatively identify and biopsy sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) in patients with breast cancer. METHODS: In all centres, breast cancer patients had a microbubble/CEUS SLN core biopsy prior to axillary surgery and patients in Centres 1 and 2 had a normal greyscale axillary ultrasound. Data were collected between 2010 and 2016; 1361 from Centre 1 (prospective, sequential), 376 from Centre 2 (retrospective, sequential), 121 from Centre 3 (retrospective, selected) and 48 from Centre 4 (prospective, selected). RESULTS: SLN were successfully core biopsied in 80% (Centre 1), 79.6% (Centre 2), 77.5% (Centre 3) and 88% (Centre 4). The sensitivities to identify all SLN metastases were 46.9% [95% confidence intervals (CI) (39.4-55.1)], 52.5% [95% CI (39.1-65.7)], 46.4% [95% CI (27.5-66.1)] and 45.5% [95% CI (16.7-76.6)], respectively. The specificities were 99.7% [95% CI (I98.9-100)], 98.1% [95% CI (94.5-99.6)], 100% [95% CI (93.2-100%)] and 96.3% [95% CI (81-99.9)], respectively.The negative predictive values were 87.0% [95% CI (84.3-89.3)], 84.5% [95% CI (78.4-89.5)], 86.9% [95% CI (82.4-90.3)] and 86.2% [95% CI (78.4-91.5)], respectively. At Centres 1 and 2, 12/730 (1.6%) and 7/181 (4%), respectively, of patients with a benign microbubble/CEUS SLN core biopsy had two or more lymph node (LN) macrometastases found at the end of primary surgical treatment. CONCLUSION: The identification and biopsy of SLN using CEUS is a reproducible technique. Advances in knowledge: In the era of axillary conservation, microbubble/CEUS SLN core biopsy has the potential to succeed surgical staging of the axilla.