Locally advanced breast carcinoma: evaluation of mammography in the prediction of residual disease after induction chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: We aimed to assess the mammographic features of locally advanced breast carcinoma treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and to evaluate morphological criteria that determine the value of mammography in therapy monitoring.

Materials and methods: We reviewed the pre- and post-therapeutic mammograms of 44 patients with stage III-breast carcinoma with regard to tumor characteristics and malignant calcifications and compared to histopathological results.

Results: Delineation of the tumor proved to be the most significant criterion. In 34 tumors more than 50% of the lesion was defined; these showed a high correlation between the mammographically determined tumor diameter and that determined on histopathological examination (r = 0.77). Less than 50% of the mass was definable in 14 tumors; here the correlation between mammographically and histopathologically determined tumor diameter was low (r = -0.19).

Conclusions: The diagnostic value of mammography in the evaluation of tumor response to induction chemotherapy depends primarily on the extent to which the tumor can be delineated from the adjacent breast tissue. For tumors whose margins can be defined by more than 50% on the baseline mammogram, the diagnostic reliability of mammography is high. Ill-defined masses should preferably be assessed with other imaging procedures such as ultrasonography or magnetic resonance imaging.