Elastographic evaluation of mucinous carcinoma of the breast

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Abstract
Elastography is widely used as a diagnostic tool for the diagnosis of invasive breast cancer. However, no study has yet shown if elastography for diagnosing mucinous carcinoma is as useful as that for diagnosing the usual invasive carcinoma. Mucinous carcinoma is considered as a soft tumor. In this study, we used elastography to evaluate the elasticity of mucinous carcinoma. Among 1,015 patients who underwent surgery for primary breast cancer between February 2007 and August 2008 in our facility, the final pathological diagnosis showed only 32 mucinous carcinomas. We evaluated 16 of the 32 mucinous carcinoma patients who underwent preoperative elastography. There were 13 cases of the pure-type and 3 cases of the mixed-type mucinous carcinoma. B-mode ultrasound (US) imaging showed mass formation in 16 patients. The elasticity score was 2 in 1 case (8%), 3 in 3 cases (23%), 4 in 7 cases (54%), and 5 in 2 cases (15%). The fat-to-lesion ratio (FLR) was evaluated in 7 cases. The mean value of the FLR was 12 (range 3–30). Twelve of the 16 (75%) cases had an elastography score of 4 or 5. Although mucinous carcinoma had an elastography score similar to that of usual invasive carcinoma, elastography may be useful for distinguishing mucinous carcinoma from benign fibroadenoma.

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