Purpose:
The goal of this study was to evaluate the significance of
mammography (MX), breast ultrasound (US) and breast MRI (MR) for
the detection of breast cancer at an early stage (pTis, pT1a, pT1b)
with a good prognosis, and to identify which criteria led to the
diagnosis for each modality. Material and methods:
The sensitivity of MX, US and MR was evaluated in a retrospective
study of 109 patients (ultrasound: 103) with early, i.e. small
breast cancers between 2003 and 2011. The cohort included 50 (45)
DCIS, 17 (17) pT1a cancers, and 42 (41) pT1b cancers.
Subcategorization of the DCIS lesions showed that 13 cases were
low-grade (G1), 14 cases were intermediate-grade (G2), and 23 cases
were high-grade (G3) lesions. In addition, the dependence of early
tumor detectability upon the parenchymal pattern found on
mammography, ultrasound, and MRI was examined. Results:
Image quality of mammography and breast MRI was excellent.
Mammographic images were evaluated to be “perfect
Keywords: Breast cancer – mammography – breast ultrasound – breast MRI – early diagnosis
