ABUS as an alternative to hand held ultrasound for response control in neoadjuvant breast cancer treatment

Purpose The “Invenia Automated Breast Ultrasound Screening” (ABUS) is indicated as an adjunct to mammography for breast cancer screening in asymptomatic women with high density of breast tissue. ABUS provides efficient exam reading and analysis within 3 to 6 minutes on the work station (1). The aim of this study is to evaluate the use of ABUS in patients who are under neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment for response control.

Methods We conducted regular sonographic response check and ABUS examination in 45 women who were under neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment. The hand-held sonography was performed with GE Voluson S8. The tumor was measured in 3 dimensions. The last sonographic check took place within the last 4 weeks before the end of chemotherapy. We compared the hand held sonographic measurement and the ABUS measurement with the size of the pathologic tumor.

Results We found that there was no significant difference between tumor measurements with hand held ultrasound or ABUS ultrasound in neoadjuvant response control. The average difference from hand held sonographic ultrasound size to final pathological tumor size was 9,3 mm. The average difference from ABUS ultrasound size to final pathological tumor size was 10,3 mm (p = 0,3). The median difference between ABUS and hand held ultrasound tumor size was 5,1 mm.

Conclusions ABUS seems to be a suitable method to conduct response control in neoadjuvant breast cancer treatment. ABUS offers remarkable time saving for physicians compared to handheld ultrasound and thus should be considered for use in clinical practice.

Publication History

Article published online:
24 June 2020