A CLINICAL, MAMMOGRAPHIC, SONOGRAPHIC AND HISTOLOGIC EVALUATION OF BREAST-CANCER

Objective: To evaluate histologic tumor size in comparison with preoperative determination of tumor diameter by palpation, mammography and sonography. Methods: In a retrospective analysis we compared the histologic, clinical, mammographic and sonographic findings obtained from 160 patients with breast carcinoma. Results: The histologically determined tumors showed an average diameter of 25.7 mm. By comparison, the average tumor diameter determined by mammography, sonography and palpation was 23.8, 26.1 and 30.6 mm, respectively. Mammography was capable of detecting 94.5% of breast carcinomas, breast sonography 91% and palpation 87%. The combinations of mammography and sonography or mammography and palpation detected 99% of carcinomas, and sonography and palpation 95% of carcinomas. Conclusion: As supplementary methods to preoperative clinical examination, mammography and breast sonography are mutually complementary, high-resolution imaging techniques of utmost importance in the preoperative diagnosis and surgical treatment of breast cancer patients.