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. 2023 Feb 14;31(4):293-297.
doi: 10.4103/jmu.jmu_99_22. eCollection 2023 Oct-Dec.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Ultrasonography in Axillary Staging in Breast Cancer Patients

Emad Mofid Nassif Rezkallah  1 , Andrew Elsaify  2 , Su Min Min Tin  1 , Wael Elsaify  1
Affiliations

Diagnostic Accuracy of Ultrasonography in Axillary Staging in Breast Cancer Patients

Emad Mofid Nassif Rezkallah et al. J Med Ultrasound. .

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy affecting women all over the world and represents 7% of all cancer-related deaths in the UK. One of the most crucial elements in assessing a patient's prognosis and chance of survival with breast cancer is the condition of their axillary lymph nodes. Ultrasonography (US) is now used as a routine preoperative diagnostic tool for pretherapeutic axillary evaluation. The aim of the current study is to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of US in axillary staging in breast cancer patients.

Methods: We carried out this retrospective study for all invasive breast cancer patients who had surgery in addition to preoperative axillary staging using US during the period from January 2020 to February 2021. The final histology results were compared with the preoperative US findings to ascertain the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of AUS in axillary staging.

Results: One hundred and twenty-eight patients were included in our study. The average age of diagnosis was 63.9 ± 12.3 years of age. We calculated sensitivity rate of 59.6%, specificity rate of 95.1%, positive predictive value of 87.5%, and negative predictive value of 80.2% with overall diagnostic accuracy of 82.2%.

Conclusion: Despite the important role of preoperative US in axillary staging in breast cancer patients; it failed to detect metastatic diseases in 14.8% of our patients. These findings necessitate the routine histological evaluation of the axilla for more accurate staging of the disease.

Keywords: Axilla; breast cancer; diagnostic accuracy; histology; ultrasonography.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
US of the left axilla showing normal LN. US: Ultrasonography, LN: Lymph node
Figure 2
Figure 2
US of the right axilla showing abnormal LNs with cortical thickness of 4.6 mm. US: Ultrasonography, LNs: Lymph nodes
Figure 3
Figure 3
US of the right axilla showing abnormal LN with cortical thickness of 6.3 mm. US: Ultrasonography, LN: Lymph node
Figure 4
Figure 4
US of the left axilla showing abnormal LN with cortical thickness of 5.5 mm. US: Ultrasonography, LN: Lymph node
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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