Ultrasound may be used in conjunction with mammograms in detecting lobular carcinoma breast cancer, according to a report released at the American College of Radiology’s 28th National Breast Cancer Conference. Lobular carcinoma, a rare type of breast cancer, is sometimes discovered as a small irregularity on a mammogram. Radiologists often ask the patient to return within 6 months so that another mammogram can be taken to determine whether the growth has developed.
Virginia Mason Medical Center of Seattle physician Marie E. Lee reviewed pathology reports of six patients with lobular carcinoma who had received a mammogram and ultrasound. Radiologists then examined the reports and found that six out of seven tumors were detected with ultrasound. Lee said, “ultrasound abnormalities were not only important in determining the mass, but also the location of the mass.”
