Breast cancer echocardiography or ultrasound
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Breast cancer echocardiography or ultrasound On the Web |
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American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Breast cancer echocardiography or ultrasound |
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Breast cancer echocardiography or ultrasound |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Soroush Seifirad, M.D.[2] Mirdula Sharma, MBBS [3]; Ammu Susheela, M.D. [4]
Overview
Breast ultrasound may be helpful in the diagnosis of breast cancer.
Findings on ultrasound
Breast ultrasound is not as sensitive as mammography in diagnosing breast cancer. It may be used to:[1]
- Examine a breast lump or abnormality found during a clinical breast examination or mammogram
- Determine if a breast lump is a solid tumor or a fluid-filled cyst (sac in the body that is usually filled with fluid or semi-solid material)
- Find an abnormal area for a biopsy
Liver Ultrasound
If the blood chemistry tests show increased levels of liver enzymes, a liver ultrasound may be done to check if cancer has spread to the liver (liver metastases). [1]
Herceptin (trastuzumab) induced heart failure
- Trastuzumab is a HER2 receptor blocker, which is used to treat HER2 positive breast cancer.
- It has been shown that heart failure is prevalent in women being treated with this novel treatment.
- According to a small study 58% of women treated with Herceptin for three months, showed pieces of evidence of loss of heart function. (Ref)
- As a potentially serious side effect of this novel treatment serial Echocardiography is recommended in all patients treated with trastuzumab.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Breast cancer. Canadian Cancer Society (2015) http://www.cancer.ca/en/cancer-information/cancer-type/breast/signs-and-symptoms/?region=on#ixzz3xScycfqv Accessed on January 16, 2016