Background: To perform optimal tumor resection of breast cancer, preoperative information concerning intraductal spread of cancer (ISC) is very important.
Methods: To detect ISC, three-dimensional (3D) imaging methods including helical CT, MRI, and ultrasound were examined in patients with primary breast cancer by comparison with multi-sliced pathological specimens.
Results: The sensitivity of each modality for detecting ISC was 64.7%, 90.2% and 78.6%, and the specificity was 97.1%, 62.9% and 100%, respectively. Subsequently, the potential of each modality for navigation in breast conserving surgery was assessed. Three-dimensional helical CT navigation could reduce the positive rate of the specimen margins, and 3D MRI navigation using a special mapping sheet enabled removal of non-palpable breast cancer without positive margins in 66.7% of patients preliminarily. Real-time 3D ultrasound images correlated with the resected tumor size, with the difference between the two less than 2 cm in 72.7 % of the patients with ISC.
Conclusion: Three-dimensional images from each modality were reliable enough for diagnosis of tumor spread, and surgical navigation using these images seemed to have potential clinical application for breast conserving surgery. Prospective studies for navigation surgery with more patients are needed.