Retrospective Comparison of Contrast-Enhanced Spectral Mammography with Digital Mammography in Assessing Tumor Size in 668 Cases of Breast Cancer

BACKGROUND: Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) is digital mammography with contrast agent. This promising new breast imaging method can be used for planning surgical treatment. This study compared CESM versus digital mammography (MG) in evaluating tumor size in breast cancer. MATERIAL/METHODS: Comparison of tumor dimensions in CESM, MG, and histopathology was made. The correlation of these data was assessed by histopathological type, biological subtype, grading of the carcinoma, and patient age. RESULTS: The average difference in tumor size between CESM and histopathological examination was 5 mm. The differences in size measurement between CESM and MG were significant (p=0.00). The Pearson’s linear correlation coefficients of CESM versus HP and MG versus HP were −0.01 (p=0.79) and −0.25 (p=0.00), respectively, indicating no differences between CESM and HP based on the lesion size. A weak negative correlation between those values was observed on MG. No relationship was found between the tumor size in CESM and the biological subtype, carcinoma malignancy degree, or patient age. CONCLUSIONS: CESM is a new diagnostic method in breast cancer. The accuracy of measurement of tumor size using CESM is independent of lesion size, but it overestimates the size by 5 mm on average. The difference is not dependent on grading, biological subtype of the carcinoma, or patient age. They concern the histopathological type, and values are significantly greater in pre-invasive carcinomas.