Selected inflammatory breast cancer research published in 2011
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The abstract below is edited for length. Read the free complete article on PubMed Central.
Le-Petross, H. T., et al. (2011). MRI features of inflammatory breast cancer. American Journal of Roentgenology, 197(4), 769-76.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to evaluate the features of inflammatory breast carcinoma (IBC) on MRI compared with mammography and ultrasound and to better define the role of MRI in patients with this aggressive disease.
RESULTS:
Eighty women with a clinical diagnosis of IBC were included in the study (median age, 52 years; age range, 25–78 years). MRI detected a primary breast lesion in 78 of 80 symptomatic breasts (98%) compared with 53 of 78 (68%) with mammography (p < 0.0001) and 75 of 80 (94%) with ultrasound. Of the 78 breasts with a primary lesion, the most common MRI finding was a mass or multiple masses (57/78, 73%). Masses were frequently multiple, small, and confluent (47/57, 82%); mass margins, irregular (43/57, 75%); and internal enhancement pattern, heterogeneous (47/57, 82%). Kinetic analysis revealed a delayed washout pattern in 66 of 78 tumors (85%). MRI showed skin thickening in 74 of 80 breasts (93%), whereas mammography showed skin thickening in 56 of 78 breasts (72%).
CONCLUSION:
Multiple small, confluent, heterogeneously enhancing masses and global skin thickening are key MRI features of IBC that contribute to improved detection of a primary breast cancer and delineation of disease extent compared with mammography.