BREAST-CANCER RECURRENCE AFTER MASTECTOMY - DIAGNOSIS WITH MAMMOGRAPHY AND US

The authors reviewed mammograms and/or ultrasound (US) scans of 76 les ions (67 patients) suspected of being recurrent breast cancer. All pat ients had previously undergone mastectomy. Sixty-one cases were malign ant disease and 15 were benign. Mammography and US were complementary to clinical examination in evaluating palpable lesions at the mastecto my site. Both imaging methods revealed nonpalpable recurrences. The se nsitivity of US was 91%, whereas the sensitivities of clinical examina tion and mammography were 79% and 45%, respectively. US was the best i maging method for evaluating tumors in the chest wall far from the sca r and in the axilla, as these could not be visualized on mammograms. M ost recurrent cancers were seen as circumscribed masses at mammography and as hypoechoic lesions at US. Hyperechoic recurrences could not be differentiated from benign lesions. The value of early detection of r ecurrences with imaging methods remains to be seen.