ANALYSIS OF THE TUMOR STAINING OBTAINED BY PREOPERATIVE IV-DSA FOR BREAST-CANCER PATIENTS - DENSITY AND METASTASIS CORRELATION

We examined the density of tumor enhancement on intravenous digital su btraction angiography (IV-DSA) in patients with breast cancer in relat ion to disease-free survival. The subjects of the present study consis ted of 103 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma measuring 5 cm or l ess treated from July 1988 to September 1993. In the 103 patients, 15 had distant metastasis. The region of interest was set in the areas en hanced by IV-DSA of the breast. The maximum density (MAX) was calculat ed by the time-density curve. When the patients were divided according to three classes of MAX, i.e., 0-5.0 pixels (group A, n = 23), 5.1-9. 0 pixels (group B, n = 50), 9.1 pixels or more (group C, n = 30), dise ase-free survival was highest in group A followed by group B and C, re spectively. The disease-free survival rate in group C was significantl y lower than that of group A or B (p < 0.05). Thus, high values of MAX were associated with low rates of disease-free survival. Since the va lue of MAX was found to be independent from other prognostic factors b y multivariate analysis, these results indicate that MAX has a close c orrelation with metastasis or recurrence of breast cancer, making IV-D SA a promising prognostic factor.