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. 2024 Apr 17;150(4):200.
doi: 10.1007/s00432-024-05709-2.

Imaging for local recurrence of breast cancer

T Schlaiss  1 , L Bott  2 , S-L Herbert  2 , C Bartmann  2 , M Kiesel  2 , J Salmen  2 , S T Sauer  3 , S A Christner  3 , B Petritsch  4 , J-P Grunz  3 , A Woeckel  2 , S Löb #  2 , J Diessner #  2
Affiliations

Imaging for local recurrence of breast cancer

T Schlaiss et al. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. .

Abstract

Purpose: Isolated locoregional recurrence of breast cancer (ILRR) and contralateral breast cancer (CBC) affect up to 20% of all breast cancer (BC) patients in the first 20 years after primary diagnosis. Treatment options comprise surgical interventions and further systemic therapies depending on the histological subtype. Patients with hereditary breast or ovarian cancer (HBOC) undergo MRI, mammography, and ultrasound in the aftercare of BC, while non-HBOC (nHBOC) patients do not regularly receive MRI. Since early detection is crucial for morbidity and mortality, the evaluation and constant improvement of imaging methods of the breast is necessary.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the data of 1499 former BC patients that received imaging of the breast at a tertiary-care university hospital between 2015 and 2020. The analysis comprised various patient characteristics, such as breast density, age, tumor size and subtype, and their influence on BC detection rates by the different imaging methods.

Results: Within the patient sample, 176 individuals (11.7% of former BC patients) were diagnosed with either ILRR or CBC. CBC was observed in 32.4% of patients, while both ILRR and secondary breast cancer occurred in 20.5% and 23.9% of all patients. Sensitivity of MRI, mammography, and ultrasound for recurrent malignancy was 97.9%, 66.3%, and 67.8%, respectively. ILRR and CBC detection rates were similar for patients with and without HBOC history. Lower breast density and larger tumor size increased the detection rates of all imaging modalities.

Conclusion: In breast cancer survivors, MRI might improve the early detection of ILRR and CBC in both HBOC and nHBOC patients.

Keywords: Contralateral breast cancer; Hereditary breast cancer; Imaging methods; Isolated locoregional recurrence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Breast imaging modality. The absolute and relative number of patients receiving mammography, ultrasound and MRI for breast imaging are displayed. MRI is more often performed in the HBOC collective
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Supplementary concepts