Automated breast ultrasound system for assessing tumor size and predicting T stage in breast cancer / 西安交通大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

Objective: To compare the feasibility of automated breast volume scanner automated breast ultrasound system (ABUS) and the traditional ultrasound (US) in measuring breast cancer size so as to evaluate their value in predicting breast cancer T staging. Methods: We retrospectively recruited 60 women with breast cancer who had received US and ABUS. The maximal tumor diameter was measured as tumor size. Based on the actual postoperative tumor size in pathology, Bland-Altman analysis and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were used to compare the values measured by US and ABUS. Then we made a preliminary study of the accuracy of US and ABUS in predicting breast cancer T staging. Results: The best absolute agreement was shown between US and ABUS in measuring tumor size. Moreover, ABUS showed better agreement with histology than US [average difference (-1.09±3.61)mm vs. (-1.57±4.99)mm] with a higher ICC (0.93 vs. 0.86), especially for tumors which were more than 2 cm. In addition, both US and ABUS could predict breast cancer T staging relatively accurately (82.1% vs. 87.5%). Conclusion: Both US and ABUS showed good agreement with pathology in measuring tumor size. ABUS even outperformed US in assessing tumor size for tumors beyond 2 cm. Therefore, ABUS can be considered as an alternative to US in T staging of breast cancer.