Tumor size and stage assessment accuracy of MRI and ultrasound versus pathological measurements in early breast cancer patients

Abstract Background Accurate size and stage estimation is important to monitor tumor response and plan further treatment in breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. To evaluate the accuracy of imaging findings [ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)] for tumor size a...

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Main Authors: Yuanyuan Liu, Xuerui Liao, Yakun He, Fawei He, Jing Ren, Peng Zhou, Xin Zhang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:BMC Women's Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03679-2
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author Yuanyuan Liu
Xuerui Liao
Yakun He
Fawei He
Jing Ren
Peng Zhou
Xin Zhang
author_facet Yuanyuan Liu
Xuerui Liao
Yakun He
Fawei He
Jing Ren
Peng Zhou
Xin Zhang
author_sort Yuanyuan Liu
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Accurate size and stage estimation is important to monitor tumor response and plan further treatment in breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. To evaluate the accuracy of imaging findings [ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)] for tumor size and stage estimations in early breast cancer patients and to elucidate the factors influencing tumor stage assessment. Methods We retrospectively enrolled consecutive women having pathologically confirmed breast cancer (stage T1/T2, 199 patients and 201 lesions) and preoperative records available for both US and MRI. The concordance between imaging-determined and pathological tumor size and stage was explored. The McNemar’s test was conducted to compare the concordance between imaging-determined tumor size and imaging-determined tumor stage. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the factors that influenced the accuracy. Results The concordance between US-determined and pathological tumor size (71.1%) was comparable to MRI–pathology concordance (72.6%). MRI–determined stage concordance (73.6%) was comparable to US-determined stage concordance (69.2%). Tumors with a larger pathological size, were more likely to be underestimated by US or MRI in terms of tumor size and stage (all P < 0.05). Conclusion Tumor size and tumor stage concordance did not significantly differ between US and MRI in early breast cancer patients; US could be the first choice for tumor size estimation and tumor staging.
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spelling doaj-art-429a2a3d649947ef990479468c582dd32025-08-20T03:07:44ZengBMCBMC Women's Health1472-68742025-04-012511910.1186/s12905-025-03679-2Tumor size and stage assessment accuracy of MRI and ultrasound versus pathological measurements in early breast cancer patientsYuanyuan Liu0Xuerui Liao1Yakun He2Fawei He3Jing Ren4Peng Zhou5Xin Zhang6Department of Radiology, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaDepartment of Radiology, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaDepartment of Radiology, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaDepartment of Ultrasound, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaDepartment of Radiology, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaDepartment of Radiology, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaDepartment of Breast Surgery, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital & Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, University of Electronic Science and Technology of ChinaAbstract Background Accurate size and stage estimation is important to monitor tumor response and plan further treatment in breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. To evaluate the accuracy of imaging findings [ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)] for tumor size and stage estimations in early breast cancer patients and to elucidate the factors influencing tumor stage assessment. Methods We retrospectively enrolled consecutive women having pathologically confirmed breast cancer (stage T1/T2, 199 patients and 201 lesions) and preoperative records available for both US and MRI. The concordance between imaging-determined and pathological tumor size and stage was explored. The McNemar’s test was conducted to compare the concordance between imaging-determined tumor size and imaging-determined tumor stage. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the factors that influenced the accuracy. Results The concordance between US-determined and pathological tumor size (71.1%) was comparable to MRI–pathology concordance (72.6%). MRI–determined stage concordance (73.6%) was comparable to US-determined stage concordance (69.2%). Tumors with a larger pathological size, were more likely to be underestimated by US or MRI in terms of tumor size and stage (all P < 0.05). Conclusion Tumor size and tumor stage concordance did not significantly differ between US and MRI in early breast cancer patients; US could be the first choice for tumor size estimation and tumor staging.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03679-2Breast cancerTumor sizeTumor stageMagnetic resonance imaingUltrasound
spellingShingle Yuanyuan Liu
Xuerui Liao
Yakun He
Fawei He
Jing Ren
Peng Zhou
Xin Zhang
Tumor size and stage assessment accuracy of MRI and ultrasound versus pathological measurements in early breast cancer patients
BMC Women's Health
Breast cancer
Tumor size
Tumor stage
Magnetic resonance imaing
Ultrasound
title Tumor size and stage assessment accuracy of MRI and ultrasound versus pathological measurements in early breast cancer patients
title_full Tumor size and stage assessment accuracy of MRI and ultrasound versus pathological measurements in early breast cancer patients
title_fullStr Tumor size and stage assessment accuracy of MRI and ultrasound versus pathological measurements in early breast cancer patients
title_full_unstemmed Tumor size and stage assessment accuracy of MRI and ultrasound versus pathological measurements in early breast cancer patients
title_short Tumor size and stage assessment accuracy of MRI and ultrasound versus pathological measurements in early breast cancer patients
title_sort tumor size and stage assessment accuracy of mri and ultrasound versus pathological measurements in early breast cancer patients
topic Breast cancer
Tumor size
Tumor stage
Magnetic resonance imaing
Ultrasound
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-025-03679-2
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